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jHapnarH' g (lEngUgl) Claggtc §>enrg> Special Bntnter 

SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY 
PAPERS IN THE SPECTATOR 

BY 

ADDISON, STEELE, AND BUDGELL 

WITH NOTES BY 

EDNA H. L. TURPIN 

WITH EXAMINATION QUESTIONS PREPARED BY 

CORNELIA BEARE 

instructor in English, High School, White Plains, New Tork 




NEW YORK 
MAYNARD, MERRILL, & CO 



Copyright, 1906 

BY 

MAYNARD, MERRILL, & CO. 



•^'V 



LIBRARY of CONGRESS 
Two CoDies Received 
JAN 22 906 

Copyri2hl Entry 
/ fcLASS CL XXC. No. 

M / 5 d 4 5 ^ 

COPY B. 



The Plimpton Press Norwood Mass. U.S.A. 



'O 



CONTENTS 



NEW OLD 


NC 


, NO. 


1~ 


1 


2 


2 


3 


6 


4 


34 


5 


37 


6 


106 


7 


107 


8 


108 


9 


109 


10 


110 


11 


112 


12 


113 


13 


114 


14 


115 


X^ 


116 


vl7 


117 
118 


--^18 


119 


19 


120 


20 


121 


21 


122 


22 


123 


23 


125 


24 


126 


25 


130 



TITLE 



AUTHOR PAGE 



The Spectator's Account of Him- 
self Addison 

The Club Steele . 

Unwise Ambition Steele . . 

Sir Roger at the Club Addison 

A Lady's Library Addison 

Sir Roger at his Country-House . . .Addison 

Sir Roger's Servants Steele . 

Will Wimble Addison 

Sir Roger's Ancestors Steele . 

Ghosts Addison 

A Sunday in the Country Addison 

Sir Roger and the Widow Steele . 

Economy Steele . 

Bodily Exercise Addison 

Sir Roger Hunting Budgell 

On Witchcraft Addison 

Sir Roger in Love . , Steele . . 

Town and Country Manners Addison 

Sir Roger's Poultry Addison 

Instinct in Animals Addison 

Sir Roger at the Assizes Addison 

Eudoxus and Leontine Addison 

Party Spirit Addison 

Party Spirit: continued Addison 

Sir Roger and the gypsies Addison 



•23 

29 

37 

42 

47 

53 

58 

63 

68 

73 

79 

83 

90 

95 

101 

108 

113 

119 

123 

129 

136 

142 

149 

154 

160 



4 CONTENTS 

NEW OLD 
NO. NO. TITLE AUTHOR PAGE 

26 131 The Spectator's Reputation in the 

Country Addison. . 165 

27 132 In a Stage Coach Steele ... 169 

28 174 Sir Andrew Freeport on Merchants *Sfee/e ... 174 

29 251 The Cries of London Addison. . 181 

30 269 A Walk with Sir Roger Addison. . 187 

31 295 Pin Money iddison. . 192 

32 329 Sir Roger in Westminster Ahhey . Addison . . 198 

33 331 Sir Roger and Beards Budgell . . 203 

34 335 Sir Roger at the Play Addison.. 207 

35 338 Epilogues Steele ... 213 

36 359 Will Honeycomb's Courtship Budgell . . 217 

37 383 Sir Roger at Spring Garden Addison . . 222 

38 424 On Good-humor Addison. . 226 

39 517 The Death of Sir Roger Addison.. 230 

40 544 A Letter from Captain Sentry .... Steele . . . 235 

Notes 241 

Examination questions 259 



INTRODUCTION 

Joseph Addison was born in the year 1672, about the 
middle of the reign of Charles II. Like those of many other 
celebrated men of letters, his early days were in no way 
remarkable for future promise. So weakly was he as a child, 
that it was thought necessary to christen him on the day 
after he was born. Of his brothers and sisters we hear 
very little. While at school at Lichfield, where his father 
was Dean, he is said to have been prime mover in a " barring 
out," and on another occasion to have run away, — neither 
story possessing any likeness of truth. From Lichfield he 
went to Charterhouse School, where he gained great repu- 
tation in what was then the most important part of a scholar's 
training — the writing of Latin verses. His most intimate 
school-friend was Richard Steele (1672-1729). This friend- 
ship was one of those strange connections of opposite charac- 
ters, which are so frequent, and which last so long. While 
they were boys they probably did not know what it was 
that drew them to each the other. As they grew to be men 
each probably found that the other possessed precisely 
those parts which he had not, and which he therefore ad- 
mired. Addison was silent, and a book-worm; Steele a 
chatterbox, and full of animal spirits: the one was calm, 
and even phlegmatic; the other impulsive, and the creature 
of the moment: the one frugal, the other a spendthrift; the 
one a peacemaker, the other with all an Irishman's love of 
a frolic. It is barely possible to imagine Addison climbing 
a tree for a bird's nest; it is impossible to imagine Steele 
sitting quiet for long over Livy or Virgil. Their very faces, 

5 



6 INTRODUCTION 

if Jervas's portraits are true, show the difference. Addison's 
quiet, somewhat prim countenance forms a striking con- 
trast to the sparkling eyes, laughing mouth, and short round 
face by virtue of which Steele claimed right of entrance to 
the "Ugly" Club. 

A specially good copy of verses which met the eyes of an 
Oxford professor gained Addison admission into Magdalen 
College, while Steele entered at Christ Church. Here, occu- 
pied chiefly with the study of the Latin poets, and in the 
society of men of the same mind, he passed the next ten 
years of his life, distinguishing himself " by a most profound 
silence," and gaining a high reputation for scholarship at 
home, and, what is more remarkable, abroad. The litera- 
ture of England was as little known among French scholars 
then as the literature of Germany was among English scholars 
at the end of the last century, when Scott and his fellow- 
pupils used to meet and read Gesner's "Death of Abel"; 
and Addison's "Battle of the Pigmies and Cranes" in Latin 
hexameters seems to have been the first specimen of English 
scholarship which aroused attention. 

The opinion that a close imitation of classical writers was 
the highest form of poetry tended naturally to depreciate 
all originality of conception, thereby lowering the whole 
standard of literary effort. It was apparently one result of 
the worship of France and everything French, and in this 
way^ The more polite writers of the age of Louis XIV, 
especially Boileau, did their best to improve and purify 
their tongue. The staple of the French language being 
Latin, they were right in referring back to the best classic 
authors. English scholars who had the same end in view 
worked by the same method, forgetting, or not knowing, 
that the staple of the English tongue is not Latin, but Saxon. 

At the age of twenty-two Addison wrote his first English 
verses, addressed to Dryden, then the foremost writer in 
England. While they are strong, they express no more 



INTRODUCTION 7 

than the natural compliment of a young poet to one whom 
he reverences as a master of his art. 

Addison's active career did not, however, really begin 
until he was twenty-eight years of age. Had he been left 
to himself, he would probably have been tempted by the 
repose of an Oxford life to devote himself to inactive scholar- 
ship. 

He was on the point of taking orders in the church, when 
the whole course of his life was suddenly turned into a new 
channel. At the very end of Charles's reign the press and 
literature generally had freed itself from Court censorship. 
They at once became a great power in the country, and 
either party was anxious to secure writers of ability. It 
was not the Romance which "every flowery courtier writ" 
that was wanted, but hard-headed reasoning power joined 
to a style that would command attention. 

Government officials, therefore, applied to the head of 
Addison's college to allow him to give up his intention of 
taking orders and to devote himself to the public service. 
They wished to employ him as a diplomatist, for which post 
a knowledge of French and of foreign countries was indis- 
pensable: a pension of £300 a year was therefore given him 
in order that he might travel. He employed it well. In 
France and Italy he won the esteem of the best scholars. 
The "judicious Mr. Addison," the "ingenious Mr. Addison," 
are terms often applied to him. 

The state of the upper classes had been bad in the latter 
part of the reign of Elizabeth, and worse during that of 
James I. But of all the times of degradation through which 
England has been made to pass by the folly or vices of her 
rulers, the age of Charles II is the worst. Nor was this 
altogether Charles's fault. Undoubtedly no king of England 
ever surpassed him in moral or political profligacy. But it 
is doubtful whether, had he tried to check where he encour- 
aged, and to hang back where he gave the example, the 



8 INTRODUCTION 

downward course could have been stayed by any efforts of 
his. The reign of the Puritans had been a reign of social 
tyranny. All enjoyment in life, not only that which was 
frivolous, but most of that which was harmless or useful, the 
spontaneous outcome of physical health and vigor, was sup- 
pressed. In no country but Scotland, or among the Cal- 
vinists of Geneva, could this joyless discipline have been 
long endured; least of all in England, full of that animal life 
and strength which made Erasmus speak of "those Eng- 
lish wild beasts," nourished as it had been for centuries in 
the freedom which had developed Shakespeare and Raleigh. 
Accordingly, the moment that the Puritans fell, there fell 
with them their unnatural system of joylessness and gloom. 
But if this had been unsightly, how unspeakably foul were 
the days which came on. "In this great reaction, devotion 
and honesty, swept away together, left to mankind but the 
wreck and the mire. The more excellent parts of human 
nature disappeared: there remained but the animal, without 
bridle and guide, urged by his desires beyond justice and 
shame." 

While the whole tone of society, moral and political, was 
thus lowered, we cannot expect to find a circle of great 
writers, expressing noble thoughts in noble language. The 
existence of great writers in any age or country is not a 
matter of chance. They may have been made great by the 
circumstances of their age or country. They may have been 
great writers by nature, and the circumstances may have 
been such that there was good chance that they would be 
listened to. 

It is difficult for us to realize the condition at this time of 
men who looked to literature for their living. With us, 
literature is a profession — one of the highest, most respected, 
and most influential. But the lords and ladies of Charles's 
Court, while they chatted with Dryden or Butler in the ante- 
chamber of Whitehall or at the Club, or when they admitted 



INTRODUCTION 9 

them to their suppers, did so with no thought of doing them- 
selves honor, but that their ears might be pleased by a com- 
plimentary line in the next poem. "He wins this patron 
who can tickle best," says Pope; and it is proved by the large 
number of writers who were dependent almost entirely 
upon their patrons. 

Towards the end of Charles II 's reign the press had be- 
come free, and literature had become a political power. 

Addison's pension had not been paid regularly, and he 
returned from his travels, after having for some time sup- 
ported himself by becoming a traveling private tutor, in 
great want. For some months he was in very narrrow cir- 
cumstances. But in the year 1704 the country was thrilled 
with the news of Blenheim, where Marlborough broke the 
might of France. 

At once every one who could write verses wrote odes of 
triumph. 

Two instances will be sufficient to illustrate the difference 
between Addison's poem and those of other writers. He 
describes a discharge of cannon. Instead of writing of 
"horrific flames," "globous irons" which "hiss and singe," 
"hairy scalps," "latent mischiefs," and "numerous bowels," 
he is content to say — 

"The dreadful burst of cannon rends the skies, 
And all the thunders of the battle rise." 

Instead of singing of the strength of Marlborough's right 
arm, he celebrates the qualities by which Marlborough won 
the battle. 

In the whole history of letters there are few scenes more 
interesting than this of a great ministry waiting until the 
poor poet in the obscure garret had finished the work which 
none other was fitted to do. It is seldom that politics have 
paid such homage to literature. 

From this time Addison's fortune was made. The Whig 



10 INTRODUCTION 

party rose, chiefly through the popularity of Marlborough's 
successes, and Addison rose with them. After diplomatic 
employment abroad, he became Under-Secretary for State. 

Meanwhile Steele had started a newspaper in London, on 
an original plan. The "Tatler" consisted of essays on 
different subjects — literature, religion, the gossip of the 
clubs, satires upon the fashions, foreign intelligence, and 
criticisms of the theaters. The design, while exactly suited 
to Addison's taste, was one upon which he would probably 
have never entered had his impulsive friend not been by 
to urge him to it. Up to this time newspapers had con- 
sisted entirely of small news-sheets and advertisements. 

The "Tatler" lasted about a year. Directly after the 
turmoil of the general election was over it was decided to 
start a new paper, called the "Spectator," to be written 
by Addison, Steele, Budgell, and other writers, and to be 
published every day, instead of only three days a week. 
It cannot be doubted that from the first to the last of the 
long series of essays which Addison contributed to the 
"Spectator" he had before him the deliberate aim of reform- 
ing society. He was well fitted for his task. His mind 
j was stored with an immense amount of quaint and unusual 
^•^ iiiformation, which could be produced without effort. He 
had extensive experience in active and professional life. 
He had the advantage, which few then possessed, of having 
traveled far and observed closely. He was a refined and 
polished writer, and had passed his life, even in the bustle 
of political service, in quiet observation of the opinions and 
habits of the classes for which he wrote. Lastly, he had an '^ 
' inexhaustible fund of humor, genial though sly, and spark- 
ling though quiet. It was this humor which made him the 
best conversationalist, among friends, of his time; which 
made Pope declare that his conversation was the most 
charming he had ever listened to, and call him 



INTRODUCTION 11 

" Blest with each talent and each art to please, 
And born to write, converse, and live with ease." 

His method was as wise as it was novel. He attacked 
frivolity, not by open scoffing, not by violence or abuse, 
but as it were with a smile, by no means bitter, on his face. 
Ladies who gave their time and their minds to a new head- 
dress, to a gossiping visit, to an affectation of learning, or to 
the adoration of cracked china, read through an essay at 
breakfast, carried along by its quaint humor, before they 
saw that it was a satire upon their pet folly. 

The success of the "Spectator" was unprecedented. 
So large was the daily issue, that when the tax upon news- 
papers was raised so high as to drive almost all others off 
the field, the "Spectator" not only held its owti, but was 
able without loss to double its price. 

As the "Spectator" is that of Addison's works with which 
we are chiefly concerned, and that which fixes his place in 
the roll of English writers, we will not linger long over the 
remaining incidents of his life. On April 1, 1712, Swift 
writes to Stella, "Addison is to have a play on Friday in 
Easter week: 'tis a tragedy called Cato." On April 6, "I 
was this morning at ten at the rehearsal of Mr. Addison's 
play called Cato, which is to be acted on Friday." On 
Friday accordingly it was acted, and thanks partly to Steele, 
who had filled the house with friends, its success was most 
marked. It is certainly the best tragedy that was produced 
at that period, and, though bitterly attacked by home critics, 
was warmly applauded by Voltaire. Meanwhile he was 
assisting the "Guardian," which, on the same plan but with 
less success, succeeded the "Spectator." 

At the age of forty-four he married the Dowager Countess 
of Warwick, an alliance from which he gained little happi- 
ness; he was in the next year created Secretary of State, 
but soon retired from this office, partly through ill-health, 



12 INTRODUCTION 

partly, if we may believe his political enemies, through 
incapacity, and died fifteen months afterwards. 

Eustace Budgell (1685-1736) was a cousin of Addison, 
who wrote thirty-seven of the original "Spectator papers," 
forming his style on that of Addison. 



CRITICAL OPINIONS 

Whoever wishes to attain an English style, familiar but 
not coarse, and elegant but not ostentatious, must give his 
days and nights to the volumes of Addison. 

— Samuel Johnson. 

That which chiefly distinguishes Addison from almost 
all the other great masters of ridicule is the grace, the noble- 
ness, the moral purity which we find even in his merriment. 
If, as Soame Jenyns oddly imagined, a portion of the happi- 
ness of seraphim and just men made perfect be derived 
from an exquisite perception of the ludicrous, their mirth 
must surely be none other than the mirth of Addison; a 
mirth consistent with tender compassion for all that is frail, 
and with profound reverence for all that is sublime. Nothing 
great, nothing amiable, no moral duty, no doctrine of natural 
or revealed religion, has ever been associated by Addison 
with any degrading idea. His humanity is without a parallel 
in literary history. It may be confidently affirmed that he 
has blackened no man's character, nay, that it would be 
difficult, if not impossible, to find in all the volumes which 
he has left us a single taunt which can be called ungenerous 
or unkind. — Macaulay. 

Addison, appearing at a time when English literature 
was at a very low ebb, made an impression which his writ- 
ings would not now produce, and won a reputation which 
was then his due, but which has long survived his compara- 
tive excellence. Charmed by the gentle flow of his thought, 
— which, neither deep nor strong, neither subtle nor strug- 
gling with the obstacles of argument, might well flow easily, 

13 



14 CRITICAL OPINIONS 

— by his lambent humor, his playful fancy (he was very 
slenderly endowed with imagination), and the healthy tone 
of his mind, the writers of his own generation and those of 
the succeeding half century placed him upon a pedestal, 
in his right to which there has been since almost unquestion- 
ing acquiescence. He certainly did much for English litera- 
ture, and more for English morals and manners, which in 
his day were sadly in need of elevation and refinement. 
But, as a writer of English, he is not to be compared, except 
with great peril to his reputation, to at least a score of men 
who have flourished in the present century, and some of 
whom are now living. — R. G. White. 

On the second of January 1711 appeared the last Tatler. 
At the beginning of March following appeared the first of 
an incomparable series of papers, containing observations 
on life and literature by an imaginary Spectator. 

The Spectator himself was conceived and drawn by 
Addison; and it is not easy to doubt that the portrait was 
meant to be in some features a likeness of the painter. The 
Spectator is a gentleman who, after passing a studious 
youth at the university, has traveled on classic ground, 
and has bestowed much attention on curious points of 
antiquity. He has, on his return, fixed his residence in 
London, and has observed all the forms of life which are to 
be found in that great city, has daily listened to the wits 
of Will's, has smoked with the philosophers of the Grecian, 
and has mingled with the parsons at Child's, and with the 
politicians at the St. James's. In the morning, he often 
listens to the hum of the Exchange; in the evening, his face 
is constantly to be seen in the pit of Drury Lane Theater. 
But an insurmountable bashfulness prevents him from open- 
ing his mouth, except in a small circle of intimate friends. 

These friends were first sketched by Steele. Four of the 
club, the templar, the clergyman, the soldier, and the mer- 
chant, were uninteresting figures, fit only for a background. 



CRITICAL OPINIONS 15 

But the other two, an old country baronet and an old town 
rake, though not delineated with a very delicate pencil, 
had some good strokes. Addison took the rude outlines 
into his own hands, retouched them, colored them, and is in 
truth the creator of the Sir Roger de Coverley and the Will 
Honeycomb with whom we are all familiar. 

The plan of the Spectator must be allowed to be both 
original and eminently happy. Every valuable essay in 
the series may be read with pleasure separately; yet the 
five or six hundred essays form a whole, and a whole which 
has the interest of a novel. It must be remembered too 
that at that time no novel, giving a lively and powerful pic- 
ture of the common life and manners of England, had 
appeared. Richardson was working as a compositor. 
Fielding was robbing birds' nests. Smollett was not yet 
born. The narrative, therefore, which connects together 
the Spectator's Essays, gave to our ancestors their first 
taste of an exquisite and untried pleasure. That narrative 
was indeed constructed with no art or labor. The events 
were such events as occur every day. Sir Roger comes up 
to town to see Eugenio, as the worthy baronet always calls 
Prince Eugene, goes with the Spectator on the water to Spring 
Gardens, walks among the tombs in the Abbey, and is fright- 
ened by the Mohawks, but conquers his apprehension so 
far as to go to the theater when the Distressed Mother is 
acted. The Spectator pays a visit in the summer to Cover- 
ley Hall, is charmed with the old house, the old butler, 
and the old chaplain, eats a jack caught by Will Wimble, 
rides to the assizes, and hears a point of law discussed by 
Tom Touchy. At last a letter from the honest butler brings 
to the club the news that Sir Roger is dead. Will Honey- 
comb marries and reforms at sixty. The club breaks up; 
and the Spectator resigns his functions. Such events can 
hardly be said to form a plot; yet they are related with such 
truth, such grace, such wit, such humor, such pathos, such 



16 CRITICAL OPINIONS 

knowledge of the human heart, such knowledge of the ways 
of the world, that they charm us on the hundredth perusal. 
We have not the least doubt that if Addison had written a 
novel, on an extensive plan, it would have been superior 
to any that we possess. As it is, he is entitled to be con- 
sidered not only as the greatest of the English essayists, 
but as the forerunner of the great English novelists. 

We say this of Addison alone; for Addison is the Specta- 
tor. About three sevenths of the work are his; and it is no 
exaggeration to say that his worst essay is as good as the 
best essay of any of his coadjutors. His best essays approach 
near to absolute perfection; nor is their excellence more 
wonderful than their variety. His invention never seems 
to flag; nor is he ever under the necessity of repeating him- 
self, or of wearing out a subject. There are no dregs in his 
wine. He regales us after the fashion of that prodigal nabob 
who held that there was only one good glass in a bottle. 
As soon as we have tasted the first sparkling foam of a jest, 
it is withdrawn, and a fresh draught of nectar is at our lips. 
On the Monday we have an allegory as lively and ingenious 
as Lucian's Auction of Lives; on the Tuesday an Eastern 
apologue, as richly colored as the Tales of Scheherezade; on 
the Wednesday, a character described with the skill of La 
Bruyere; on the Thursday, a scene from common life, equal 
to the best chapters in the Vicar of Wakefield; on the Friday, 
some sly Horatian pleasantry on fashionable follies, on 
hoops, patches, or puppet shows; and on the Saturday a 
religious meditation, which will bear a comparison with the 
finest passages in Massillon. — Macaulay. 

Any comparison of these two masters of the Eighteenth- 
Century Essay is as futile as it will probably be perpetual. 
While people continue to pit Fielding against Smollett, 
and Thackeray against Dickens, there will always be a party 
for Addison and a party for Steele. The adherents of the 
former will draw conviction from Lord Macaulay 's famous 



CRITICAL OPINIONS 17 

defiance in the "Edinburgh" apropos of Aikin's "Life"; 
those of the latter from that vigorous counterblast which 
(after ten years' meditation) Mr. Forster sounded in the 
"Quarterly." But the real lovers of literature will be con- 
tent to enjoy the delightfully distinctive characteristics of 
both. For them Steele's frank and genial humor, his 
chivalrous attitude to women, and the engaging warmth 
and generosity of his nature, will retain their attraction, in 
spite of his literary inequalities and structural negligence; 
while the occasional coldness and restraint of Addison's 
manner will not prevent those who study his work from 
admiring his unfailing good taste, the archness of his wit, 
his charming sub-humorous gravity, and the perfect keeping 
of his character-painting. * * * 

About four fifths of the "Tatler," "Spectator," and 
"Guardian" was written by Addison and Steele alone. 
The work of their coadjutors was consequently limited in 
extent, and, as a rule, unimportant. Budgell, Addison's 
cousin, whose memory survives chiefly by his tragic end, 
and a malignant couplet of Pope, was one of the most regu- 
lar. Once,^ working on Addison's lines, and aided, it may 
be, by Addison's refining pen, he made a respectable addition 
to the "Coverley" series. — Austin Dobson. 

But it is not for his reputation as the great author of 
"Cato" and the "Campaign," or for his merits as Secretary 
of State, or for his rank and high distinction as my Lady 
War^vick's husband, or for his eminence as an Examiner 
of political questions on the Whig side, or a Guardian of 
British liberties, that we admire Joseph Addison. It is as a 
Tatler of small talk and a Spectator of mankind that we 
cherish and love him, and owe as much pleasure to him 
as to any human being that ever wrote. He came in that 
artificial age, and began to speak with his noble, natural 

1 Three times, nos. 116, 331, 359. 



18 CRITICAL OPINIONS 

voice. He came, the gentle satirist who hit no unfair blow; 
the kind judge who castigated only in smiling. While Swift 
went about, hanging and ruthless — a literary Jeffreys — 
in Addison's kind court only minor cases were tried: only 
peccadillos and small sins against society; only a dangerous 
libertinism in tuckers and hoops; or a nuisance in the abuse 
of beaux' canes and snuff-boxes. It may be a lady is tried 
for breaking the peace of our sovereign lady Queen Anne, 
and ogling too dangerously from the side-box; or a Templar 
for beating the watch, or breaking Priscian's head; or a 
citizen's wife for caring too much for the puppet-show, and 
too little for her husband and children: every one of the 
little sinners brought before him is amusing, and he dis- 
misses each with the pleasantest penalties and the most 
charming words of admonition. 

Addison wrote his papers as gaily as if he was going out 
for a holiday. When Steele's Tatler first began his prattle, 
Addison, then in Ireland, caught at his friend's notion, 
poured in paper after paper, and contributed the stores 
of his mind, the sweet fruits of his reading, the delightful 
gleanings of his daily observation, with a wonderful pro- 
fusion, and as it seemed an almost endless fecundity. He 
was six-and-thirty years old; full and ripe. He had not 
worked crop after crop from his brain, manuring hastily, 
sub-soiling indifferently, cutting and sowing and cutting 
again, like other luckless cultivators of letters. He had 
not done much as yet : a few Latin poems — graceful pro- 
lusions; a polite book of travels; a dissertation on medals, 
not very deep; four acts of a tragedy, a great classical exer- 
cise; and the "Campaign," a large prize poem that won an 
enormous prize. But with his friend's discovery of the 
''Tatler," Addison's calling was found, and the most de- 
lightful talker in the world began to speak. He does not 
go very deep; let gentlemen of a profound genius, critics 
accustomed to the plunge of the bathos, console themselves 



CRITICAL OPINIONS 19 

by thinking that he couldn't go very deep. There are no 
traces of suffering in his writing. He was so good, so honest, 
so healthy, so cheerfully selfish, if I must use the word. 
There is no deep sentiment. I doubt, until after his mar- 
riage, perhaps, whether he ever lost his night's rest or his 
day's tranquility about any woman in his life. Whereas 
poor Dick Steele had capacity enough to melt, and to lan- 
guish, and to sigh, and to cry his honest old eyes out, for a 
dozen. His writings do not show insight into or reverence 
for the love of women, which I take to be, one the con- 
sequence of the other. He walks about the world watching 
their pretty humors, fashions, follies, flirtations, rivalries: 
and noting them with the most charming archness. He 
sees them in public, in the theater, or the assembly, or the 
puppet-show; or at the toy-shop higgling for gloves and lace; 
or at the auction, battling together over a blue porcelain 
dragon, or a darling monster in Japan; or at church, eying 
the width of their rival's hoops, or the breadth of their laces, 
as they sweep down the aisles. Or he looks out of his win- 
dow at the "Garter" in Saint James's Street, at Ardelia's 
coach, as she blazes to the drawing-room with her coronet 
and six footmen; and remembering that her father was a 
Turkey merchant in the City, calculates how many sponges 
went to purchase her earring, and how many drums of figs 
to build her coach-box; or he demurely watches behind a 
tree in Spring Garden as Saccharissa (whom he knows under 
her mask) trips out of her chair to the alley where Sir Fopling 
is waiting. He sees only the public life of women. Addison 
was one of the most resolute club men of his day. He passed 
many hours daily in those haunts. Besides drinking — which, 
alas! is past praying for, you must know it — he owned, too, 
ladies, that he indulged in that odious practice of smoking. 
Poor fellow! He was a man's man, remember. The only 
woman he did know, he didn't write about. I take it there 
would not have been much humor in that story. * * * 



20 CRITICAL OPINIONS 

Addison laughs at women equally; but, with the gentle- 
ness and politeness of his nature, smiles at them and watches 
them, as if they were harmless, half-witted, amusing, pretty 
creatures, only made to be men's playthings. It was Steele 
who first began to pay a manly homage to their goodness 
and understanding, as well as to their tenderness and beauty. 
In his comedies the heroes do not rant and rave about the 
divine beauties of Gloriana or Statira, as the characters 
were made to do in the chivalry romances and the high- 
flown dramas just going out of vogue; but Steele admires 
women's virtue, acknowledges their sense, and adores their 
purity and beauty, with an ardor and strength which 
should win the good-will of all women to their hearty and 
respectful champion. It is this ardor, this respect, this 
manliness, which makes his comedies so pleasant and their 
heroes such fine gentlemen. He paid the finest compliment 
to a woman that perhaps ever was offered. Of one woman, 
whom Congreve had also admired and celebrated, Steele 
says, that "to have loved her was a liberal education." 
"How often," he says, dedicating a volume to his wife, "how 
often has your tenderness removed pain from my sick head, 
how often anguish from my afflicted heart! If there are 
such beings as guardian angels, they are thus employed. 
I cannot believe one of them to be more good in inclination, 
or more charming in form, than my wife." His breast 
seems to warm and his eyes to kindle when he meets with a 
good and beautiful woman, and it is with his heart as well 
as with his hat that he salutes her. About children, and 
all that relates to home, he is not less tender, and more 
than once speaks in apology of what he calls his softness. 
He would have been nothing without that delightful weak- 
ness. It is that which gives his works their worth and his 
style its charm. It, like his life, is full of faults and care- 
less blunders; and redeemed, like that, by his sweet and com- 
passionate nature. * * * 



CRITICAL OPINIONS 21 

The great charm of Steele's writing is its naturalness. 
He wrote so quickly and carelessly that he was forced to 
make the reader his confidant, and had not the time to de- 
ceive him. He had a small share of book-learning, but a 
vast acquaintance with the world. He had known men and 
taverns. He had lived with gownsmen, with troopers, with 
gentlemen ushers of the Court, with men and women of 
fashion; with authors and wits, with the inmates of the spon- 
ging-houses, and with the frequenters of all the clubs and 
coffee-houses in the town. He was liked in all company 
because he liked it; and you like to see his enjoyment as you 
like to see the glee of a boxful of children at the pantomime. 
He was not of those lonely ones of the earth whose greatness 
obliged them to be solitary; on the contrary, he admired, 
I think, more than any man who ever wrote; and full of 
hearty applause and sympathy, wins upon you by calling 
you to share his delight and good-humor. His laugh rings 
through the whole house. He must have been invaluable 
at a tragedy, and have cried as much as the most tender 
young lady in the boxes. He has a relish for beauty and 
goodness wherever he meets it. He admired Shakespeare 
affectionately, and more than any man of his time; and 
according to his generous, expansive nature called upon all 
his company to like what he liked himself. He did not 
danm with faint praise: he was in the world and of it; and 
his enjoyment of life presents the strangest contrast to Swift's 
savage indignation and Addison's lonely serenity. 

— William Makepeace Thackeray. 



BOOKS THAT MAY BE CONSULTED IN 
FURTHER STUDY 

Richard Steele. George A. Aitken. 

Life of Richard Steele. Austin Dobson. 

Sir Richard Steele. John Forster. 

Henry Esmond. W. M. Thackeray. 

Essay on Addison. T. B. Macaulay. 

The English Humorists. W. M. Thackeray. 

Essays of Joseph Addison. Edited by J. R. Green. 

Selections from Steele. Edited by Austin Dobson. 

History of Eighteenth Century Literature. Edmund 

Gosse. 
Selections from Addison. Edited by T. Arnold. 
Social Life in the Reign of Queen Anne. John Ashton. 
Reign of Queen Anne. P. H. Stanhope. 
English Literature in the Eighteenth Century. Thos. 

D. Perry. 
Short History of English Literature. George Saintsbury. 
Essays on Periodical Literature. Nathan Drake. 
London in the Eighteenth Century. Sir Walter Besant. 
Social England. H. D. Traill. Vol. IV. 
Good Queen Anne. W. H. D. Adams. 
England and the English in the Eighteenth Cen- 
tury. W. C. Sydney. 

22 




SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS IN 
THE SPECTATOR 

No. 1. The Spectator's Account of Himself 

Spectator No. 1. Thursday, March \, 1710-11^ 

Non fumum ex fulgore, sed ex fumo dare lucem 
Cogitat, ut speciosa dehinc miracula promat.2 

Hot. Ars Poet. ver. 143. 

I HAVE observed, that a reader seldom peruses a 
book with pleasure, till he knows whether the writer 
of it be a black ^ or a fair man, of a mild or choleric 
disposition, married or a bachelor, with other par- 
ticulars of the like nature, that conduce very much 5 
to the right understanding of an author. To gratify 
this curiosity, which is so natural to a reader, I 
design this paper and my next, as prefatory dis- 
courses to my following writings, and shall give 
some account in them of the several persons that 10 
are engaged in this work. As the chief trouble of 
compiling, digesting, and correcting will fall to my 
share, I must do myself the justice to open the 
work with my own history,'* 

I was born to a small hereditary estate, which, 15 
according to the tradition of the village where it 

23 



24 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 1 

lies, was bounded by the same hedges and ditches 
in WiUiam the Conqueror's time ^ that it is at 
present, and has been deUvered down from father 
to son, whole and entire, without the loss or acqui- 

: sition of a single field or meadow, during the space 
of six hundred years. There runs a story in the 
family, that before I was born my mother dreamt 
that she would bring forth a judge. Whether this 
might proceed from a law-suit which was then de- 

o pending ^ in the family, or my father's being a 
justice of the peace, I cannot determine; for I am 
not so vain as to think it presaged any dignity that 
I should arrive at in my future life, though that 
was the interpretation which the neighborhood put 

5 upon it. The gravity of my behavior at my very 
first appearance in the world, seemed to favor my 
mother's dream: for, as she has often told me, I 
threw away my rattle before I was two months old, 
and would not make use of my coral until they had 

o taken away the bells from it. 

As for the rest of my infancy, there being nothing 
in it remarkable, I shall pass it over in silence. 
I find, that during my nonage, I had the reputation 
of a very sullen youth, but was always a favorite 

5 of my school-master, who used to say, "that my 
parts were solid, and would wear well." I had not 
been long at the university, before I distinguished 
myself by a most profound silence; for during the 
space of eight years, excepting in the public exer- 



No. 1] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 25 

cises of the college, I scarce uttered the quantity 
of an hundred words; and indeed do not remember 
that I ever spoke three sentences together in my 
whole life. Whilst I was in this learned body, I 
applied myself with so much diligence to my studies, 5 
that there are very few celebrated books, either in 
the learned or the modern tongues, which I am not 
acquainted with. 

Upon the death of my father, I was resolved to 
travel into foreign countries, and therefore left the lo 
university, with the character of an odd unaccount- 
able fellow, that had a great deal of learning, if I 
would but show it. An insatiable thirst after 
knowledge carried me into all the countries of 
Europe, in which there was anything new or strange 15 
to be seen; nay, to such a degree w^as my curiosity 
raised, that having read the controversies of some 
great men ^ concerning the antiquities of Egypt, I 
made a voyage to Grand Cairo, on purpose to take 
the measure of a pyramid: and as soon as I had set 20 
myself right in that particular, returned to my 
native country with great satisfaction. 

I have passed my latter years in this city, where 
I am frequently seen in most public places, though 
there are not above half a dozen of my select 25 
friends that know me; of whom my next paper 
shall give a more particular account. There is no 
place of general resort wherein I do not often make 
my appearance; sometimes I am seen thrusting my 



26 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 1 

head into a round of politicians at Will's/ and 
listening with great attention to the narratives that 
are made in those little circular audiences. Some- 
times I smoke a pipe at Child's,^ and whilst I seem 

5 attentive to nothing but the Postman/*' overhear 
the conversation of every table in the room. I 
appear on Sunday nights at St. James's ^^ coffee- 
house, and sometimes join the little committee of 
politics in the inner-room, as one who comes there 

lo to hear and improve. My face is likewise very well 
known at the Grecian, ^^ the Cocoa-tree/^ and in the 
theaters both of Drury-lane and the Hay-market. ^^ 
I have been taken for a merchant upon the exchange 
for above these ten years, and sometimes pass for 

15 a Jew in the assembly of stock-jobbers at Jona- 
than's.^^ In short, wherever I see a cluster of 
people, I always mix with them, though I never 
open my lips but in my own club. 

Thus I live in the world rather as a Spectator of 

20 mankind, than as one of the species, by which 
means I have made myself a speculative statesman, 
soldier, merchant, and artisan, without ever med- 
dling with any practical part in life. I am very 
well versed in the theory of a husband, or a father, 

25 and can discern the errors in the economy, business, 
and diversion of others, better than those who are 
engaged in them; as standers-by discover blots, ^^ 
which are apt to escape those who are in the game. 
I never espoused any party with violence, and am 



No. 1] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 27 

resolved to observe an exact neutrality between the 
Whigs and Tories/^ unless I shall be forced to 
declare myself by the hostilities of either side. In 
short, I have acted in all the parts of my life as a 
looker on, which is the character I intend to preserve 5 
in this paper. 

I have given the reader just so much of my 
history and character, as to let him see I am not 
altogether unqualified for the business I have un- 
dertaken. As for other particulars in my life and lo 
adventures, I shall insert them in following papers, 
as I shall see occasion. In the meantime, when I 
consider how much I have seen, read, and heard, 
I begin to blame my own taciturnity; and since I 
have neither time nor inclination, to communicate i5 
the fullness of my heart in speech, I am resolved to 
do it in writing, and to print mj^self out, if possible, 
before I die. I have been often told by my friends, 
that it is pity so many useful discoveries which I 
have made should be in the possession of a silent 20 
man. For this reason, therefore, I shall publish a 
sheet-full of thoughts every morning, for the benefit hi 
of my contemporaries; and if I can any way con- 
tribute to the diversion, or improvement of the 
country in which I live, I shall leave it when I am 25 
summoned out of it, with the secret satisfaction of 
thinking that I have not lived in vain. ' 

There are three very material points which I have 
not spoken to ^^ in this paper; and which, for several 



28 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 1 

important reasons, I must keep to myself, at least 
for some time : I mean, an account of my name, my 
age, and my lodgings. I must confess, I would 
gratify my reader in anything that is reasonable; 

5 but as for these three "particulars, though I am 
sensible they might tend very much to the embel- 
lishment of my paper, I cannot yet come to a 
resolution of communicating them to the public. 
They would indeed draw me out of that obscurity 

lo which I have enjoyed for many years, and expose 
me in public places to several salutes and civilities, 
which have been always very disagreeable to me; 
for the greatest pain I can suffer, is the being 
talked to, and being stared at. It is for this reason 

IS likewise, that I keep my complexion and dress as 
very great secrets; though it is not impossible but 
I may make discoveries of both in the progress of 
the work I have undertaken. 

After having been thus particular upon myself, 

2o I shall in to-morrow's paper give an account of 
those gentlemen who are concerned with me in this 
work; for, as I have before intimated, a plan of it is 
laid and concerted (as all other matters of impor- 
tance are) in a club. However, as my friends have 

25 engaged me to stand in the front, those who have 
a mind to correspond with me, may direct their 
letters to the Spectator, at Mr. Buckley's,^® in Little 
Britain. ^^ For I must further acquaint the reader, 
that though our club meets only on Tuesdays and 



No. 2] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 29 

Thursdays, we have appointed a committee to sit 
every night for the inspection of all such papers as 
may contribute to the advancement of the public 
wear. 



1/ 



No. 2. The Club 

Spectator No. 2. Friday, March 2, 1710-11 

Ast alii sex, 



Et plures, uno conclamant ore — ^ Juv. Sat. vii. 167. 

The first of our society ^ is a gentleman of Wor- 5 
cestershire,^ of an ancient descent, a baronet, his 
name Sir Roger de Coverley.^ His great grand- 
father was inventor of that famous country-dance ^ 
which is called after him. All who know that shire 
are very well acquainted with the parts and merits 10 
of Sir Roger. He is a gentleman that is very 
singular in his behavior, but his singularities pro- 
ceed from his good sense, and are contradictions 
to the manners of the world, only as he thinks the 
world is in the wrong. However, this humor creates 15 
him no enemies, for he does nothing with sourness 
or obstinacy; and his being unconfined to modes 
and forms, makes him but the readier and more 
capable to please and oblige all who know him. 
When he is in town, he lives in Soho-square.^ It is 20 
said, he keeps himself a bachelor by reason he was 
crossed in love by a perverse beautiful widow of the 
next country to him. Before this disappointment, 



30 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 2 

Y Sir Roger was what you call a fine gentleman, had 

r often supped with my Lord Rochester ^ and Sir 

George Etherege/ fought a duel upon his first 

coming to town, and kicked bully Dawson ^ in a 

5 public coffee-house for calling him youngster. But 
being ill-used by the above-mentioned widow, he 
was very serious for a year and a half; and though, 
his temper being naturally jovial, he at last got 
over it, he grew careless of himself, and never 

lo dressed afterwards. He continues to wear a coat 
and doublet of the same cut that were in fashion at 
the time of his repulse, which, in his merry humors, 
he tells us, has been in and out ^^ twelve times since 
he first wore it. He is now in his fifty-sixth..year, 

15 cheerful, gay, and hearty; keeps a good house both 
in town and country; a great lover of mankind; but 
there is such a mirthful cast in his behavior, that he 
is rather beloved than esteemed, j His tenants grow 
rich, his servants look satisfied, all the young women 

20 profess to love him, and the young men are glad of 
his company. When he comes into a house, he 
calls the servants by their names, and talks all the 
way up stairs to a visit. /I must not omit, that 
Sir Roger is a justice of the quorum "; that he fills 

25 the chair at a quarter-session ^^ with great abilities, 
and three months ago gained universal applause, 
by explaining a passage in the game-act. ^^ 

The gentleman next in esteem and authority 
among us is another bachelor, who is a member of 



No. 2] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 31 

the Inner Temple/"* a man of great probity, wit, and 
understanding; but he has chosen his place of resi- 
dence rather to obey the direction of an old humor- 
some father, than in pursuit of his own inclinations. 
He was placed there to study the laws of the land, 5 
and is the most learned of any of the house in those 
of the stage. Aristotle ^^ and Longinus ^® are much 
better understood by him than Littleton ^^ or Coke.^^ 
The father sends up every post questions relating 
to marriage-articles, leases and tenures, in the lo 
neighborhood, all w^hich questions he agrees with 
an attorney to answer and take care of in the lump. 
He is studying the passions themselves when he 
should be inquiring into the debates among men 
which arise from them. He knows the argument 15 
of each of the orations of Demosthenes ^^ and Tully,^" 
but not one case in the reports of our own courts. 
No one ever took him for a fool; but none, except 
his intimate friends, know he has a great deal of 
wit.^^ This turn makes him at once both disinter- 20 
ested and agreeable. As few of his thoughts are 
drawn from business, they are most of them fit for 
conversation. His taste for books is a little too 
just for the age he lives in; he has read all, but— 
approves of very few. His familiarity with the 25 
customs, manners, actions, and writings of the 
ancients, makes him a very delicate observer of 
what occurs to him in the present world. He is an 
excellent critic, and the time of the play ^^ is his 



32 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 2 

hour of business; exactly at five he passes through 
New-Inn,^^ crosses through Russel-court,^* and takes 
a turn at Will's till the play begins; he has his shoes 
rubbed and his periwig powdered at the barber's as 
5 you go into the Rose.^^ It is for the good of the 
audience when he is at a play, for the actors have 
an ambition to please him. 

The person of next consideration is Sir Andrew 
Freeport, a^merchaut- -of great eminence- in the city 
lo of ^ London; a person of indefatigable industry, 
strong reason, and great experience. His notions 
of trade are noble and generous, and (as every rich 
man has usually some sly way of jesting, which 
would make no great figure were he not a rich man) 
15 he calls the sea the British Common. He is ac- 
quainted with commerce in all its parts, and will 
\ tell you that it is a stupid and barbarous way to 
.\ extend dominion by arms; for true power is to be 
^ got by arts and industry. He will often argue, that 
20 if this part of our trade were well cultivated, we 
should gain from one nation; and if another, from 
another. I have heard him prove, that diligence 
makes more lasting acquisitions than valor, and 
that sloth has ruined more nations than the swor3^. 
25 lie abounds in several frugal maxims, amongst 
which the greatest favorite is, "A penny saved is a 
penny got." A general trader of good sense is 
pleasanter company than a general scholar; and 
Sir Andrew having a natural unaffected eloquence, 



No. 2] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 33 

the perspicuity of his discourse gives the same 
pleasure that wit would in another man. He has 
made his fortune himself; and says that England 
may be richer than other kingdoms, by as plain 
methods as he himself is richer than other men; 5 
though at the same time I can say this of him, that 
there is not a point in the compass, but blows home 
a ship in which he is an owner. 

Next to Sir Andrew in the club-room sits Captain 
Sentry, a gentleman of ^reat courage, good under- lo 
standing, but invincible ^^ modesty. He is one of 
those that deserve very well, but are very awkward 
at putting their talents within the observation of 
such as should take notice of them. He was some 
years a captain, and behaved himself with great 15 
gallantry in several engagements and at several 
sieges; but having a small estate of his own, and 
being next heir to Sir Roger, he has quitted a w^ay 
of life in which no man can rise suitably to his 
merit, who is not something of a courtier as well as 20 
a soldier. I have heard him often lament, that in 
a profession where merit is placed in so conspicuous 
a view, impudence should get the better of modesty. 
When he has talked to this purpose, I never heard 
him make a sour expression, but frankly confess 25 
thajLJie left the^ world, because ha was not fit for it. 
A strict honesty and an even regular behavior, are 
in themselves obstacles to him that must press 
through crowds, who endeavor at the same end 



34 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 2 

with himself, the favor of a commander. He will 
however in his way of talk excuse generals, for not 
disposing according to men's desert, or inquiring 
into it; For, says he, that great man who has a 

5 mind to help me, has as many to break through to 
come at me, as I have to come at him: therefore he 
will conclude, that the man who would make a 
figure, especially in a military way, must get over 
all false modesty, and assist his patron against the 

lo importunity of other pretenders, by a proper assur- 
ance in his own vindication. He says it is a civil 
cowardice to be backward in asserting what you 
ought to expect, as it is a military fear to be slow 
in attacking when it is your duty. With this candor 

15 does the gentleman speak of himself and others. 
The same frankness runs through all his conversa- 
tion. The military part of his life has furnished 
him with many adventures, in the relation of which 
he is very agreeable to the company; for heis_never 

20 overbearing, though accustomed to command men 
in the utmost degree below him; nor ever too obse- 
quious, from an habit of obeying men highly above 
him. 

But that our society may not appear a set of 

25 humorists,^^ unacquainted with the gallantries and 
pleasures of the age, we have amongst us the gallant 
Will Honeycomb; a gentleman who, according to 
his years, should be in the decline of his life; but 
having ever been very careful of his person, and 



No. 2] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 35 

always had a very easy fortune, time has made but 
a very little impression, either by wrinkles on his 
forehead, or traces on his brain. His person is well 
turned, and of a good height. He is very ready at 
that sort of discourse with which men usually enter- 5 
tain women. He has all his life dressed very well, 
and remembers habits ^* as others do men. He can 
smile when one speaks to him, and laughs easily. 
He knows the history of every mode, and can in- 
form you from which of the French king's wenches, lo 
our wives and daughters had this manner of curling 
their hair, that way of placing their hoods; whose 
frailty was covered by such a sort of petticoat, and 
whose vanity to show her foot made that part of 
the dress so short in such a year. In a word, all ^5 
his conversation and knowledge has been in the 
female world. As other men of his age will take 
notice to you ^® what such a minister said upon such 
and such an occasion, he will tell you, when the 
duke of Monmouth ^^ danced at court, such a woman 20 
was then smitten, another was taken with him at 
the head of his troop in the Park. In all these 
important relations, he has ever about the same 
time received a kind glance, or a blow of a fan from 
some celebrated beauty, mother of the present lord 25 
Such-a-one. This way of talking of his, very much 
enlivens the conversation among us of a more sedate 
turn, and I find there is not one of the company, 
but myself, who rarely speaks at all, but speaks of 



36 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 2 

him as of that sort of man, who is usually called a 
well-bred fine gentleman. To conclude his charac- 
ter, where women are not concerned, he is an honest 
worthy man. 

5 I cannot tell whether I am to account him, whom 
I am next to speak of, as one of our company; for 
he visits us but seldom, but when he does, it adds 
to every man else a new enjoyment of himself. He 
is a clergyman, a very_philosoj>hi(i.jiiaii, of general 

lo learning, great sanctity of life, and the most exact 

good breeding. He has the misfortune to be of a 

"very weak constitution, and consequently cannot 

accept of such cares and business as preferments in 

his function would oblige him to; he is therefore 

15 among divines what a chamber-counselor is among 
lawyers. The probity of his mind, and the integrity 
o( his life, creale him followers, as being eloquent 
or loud advances others. He seldom introduces the 
subject he speaks upon; but we are so far gone in 

20 years, that he observes when he is among us, an 
earnestness to have him fall on some divine topic, 
which he always treats with much authority, as one 
who has no interest in this world, as one who is 
hastening to the object of all his wishes, and con- 

25 ceives hope from his decays and infirmities. These 
are my ordinary companions. 



No. 3] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 37 

No. 3. Unwise Ambition 

Spectator No. 6. Wednesday, March 7, 1710-11 

Credebant hoc grande nefas, et morte piandum, 

Si juvenis vetuio non assurrexerati 

Juv. Sat. xiii. 54. 

I KNOW no evil under the sun so great as the 
abuse of the understanding, and yet there is no one 
vice more common. It has diffused itself through 
both sexes, and all qualities of mankind; and there 
is hardly that person to be found, who is not more 5 
concerned for the reputation of wit and sense, than 
of honesty and virtue. But this unhappy affecta- 
tion of being wise rather than honest, witty than 
good-natured, is the source of most of the ill habits 
of life. Such false impressions are owing to the 10 
abandoned writings of men of wit, and the awkward 
imitation of the rest of mankind. 

For this reason Sir Roger was saying last night, 
that he was of opinion none but men of fine parts 
deserve to be hanged. The reflections of such men 15 
are so delicate upon all occurrences which they are 
concerned in, that they should be exposed to more 
than ordinary infamy and punishment, for offending 
against such quick admonitions as their own souls 
give them, and blunting the fine edge of their minds 20 
in such a manner, that they are no more shocked at 
vice and folly than men of slower capacities. There 



38 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 3 

is no greater monster in being, than a very ill man 
of great parts. He lives like a man in a palsy, with 
one side of him dead. While perhaps he enjoys 
the satisfaction of luxury, of wealth, of ambition, 

5 he has lost the taste of good-will, of friendship, of 
innocence. Scarecrow, the beggar in Lincoln's-inn- 
fields,^ who disabled himself in his right leg, and 
asks alms all day to get himself a warm supper at 
night, is not half so despicable a wretch, as such a 

lo man of sense. The beggar has no relish above sen- 
sations; he finds rest more agreeable than motion; 
and while he has a warm fire, never reflects that he 
deserves to be whipped. Every man who termi- 
nates his satisfactions and enjoyments within the 

15 supply of his own necessities and passions, is, says 
Sir Roger, in my eye, as poor a rogue as Scarecrow. 
''But," continued he, ''for the loss of public and 
private virtue we are beholden to your men of fine 
parts forsooth; it is with them no matter what is 

20 done, so it be done with an air. But to me, who 
am so whimsical in a corrupt age as to act according 
to nature and reason, a selfish man, in the most 
shining circumstance and equipage, appears in the 
same condition with the fellow above-mentioned, 

25 but more contemptible in proportion to what more 
he robs the public of, and enjoys above him. I lay 
it down therefore for a rule, that the whole man is 
to move together; that every action, of any im- 
portance, is to have a prospect of pubhc good: and 



No. 3] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 39 

that the general tendency of our indifferent actions 
ought to be agreeable to the dictates of reason, of 
religion, of good-breeding; without this, a man, as 
I have before hinted, is hopping instead of walking, 
he is not in his entire and proper motion." 5 

While the honest knight was thus bewildering 
himself in good starts, I looked intentively ^ upon 
him, which made him, I thought, collect his mind 
a little. "What I aim at," says he, "is to represent 
that, I am of opinion, to polish our understandings, lo 
and neglect our manners, is of all things the most 
inexcusable. Reason should govern passion, but 
instead of that, you see, it is often subservient to 
it; and as unaccountable as one would think it, a 
wise man is not always a good man." This degen- 15 
eracy is not only the guilt of particular persons, but 
also, at some times, of a whole people; and perhaps 
it may appear upon examination, that the most 
polite ages are the least virtuous. This may be 
attributed to the folly of admitting wit and learning 20 
as merit in themselves, without considering the 
application of them. By this means it becomes a 
rule, not so much to regard what we do, as how we 
do it. But this false beauty will not pass upon * 
men of honest minds and true taste. Sir Richard 25 
Blackmore ^ says, with as much good sense as virtue, 
"It is a mighty shame and dishonor to employ 
excellent faculties and abundance of wit, to humor 
and please men in their vices and follies. The great 



40 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 3 

enemy of mankind, notwithstanding his wit and 
angeUc faculties, is the most odious being in the 
whole creation." He goes on soon after to say, 
very generously, that he undertook the writing of 

5 his poem " to rescue the Muses out of the hands of 
ravishers, to restore them to their sweet and chaste 
mansions, and to engage them in an employment 
suitable to their dignity." This certainly ought to 
be the purpose of every man who appears in public, 

lo and whoever does not proceed upon that founda- 
tion, injures his country as fast as he succeeds in 
his studies. When modesty ceases to be the chief 
ornament of one sex, and integrity of the other, 
society is upon a wrong basis, and we shall be ever 

15 after without rules to guide our judgment in what 
is really becoming and ornamental. Nature and 
reason direct one thing, passion and humor another. 
To follow the dictates of these two latter, is going 
into a road that is both endless and intricate; when 

20 we pursue the other, our passage is delightful, and 
what we aim at easily attainable. 

I do not doubt but England is at present as polite 
a nation as any in the world; but any man who 
thinks, can easily see, that the affectation of being 

25 gay and in fashion, has very near eaten up our good 
sense, and our religion. Is there anything so just 
as that mode and gallantry ® should be built upon 
exerting ourselves in what is proper and agreeable 
to the institutions of justice and piety among us? 



No. 3] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 41 

And yet is there anything more common, than that . 
we run in perfect contradiction to them? All which 
is supported by no other pretension, than that it is 
done with what we call a good grace. 

Nothing ought to be held laudable or becoming, 5 
but what nature itself should prompt us to think so. 
Respect to all kind of superiors is founded, I think, 
upon instinct; and yet what is so ridiculous as age! 
I make this abrupt transition to the mention of this 
vice, more than any other, in order to introduce a lo 
little story, which I think a pretty instance that the 
most polite age is in danger of being the most 
vicious. 

"It happened at Athens, during a public repre- 
sentation of some play exhibited in honor of the i5 
commonwealth, that an old gentleman came too 
late for a place suitable to his age and quality.^ 
Many of the young gentlemen, who observed the 
difficulty and confusion he was in, made signs to 
him that they would accommodate him if he came 20 
where they sat. The good man bustled through the 
crowed accordingly; but when he came to the seats 
to which he was invited, the jest was to sit close 
and expose him, as he stood, out of countenance, to 
the whole audience. The frolic went round the 25 
Athenian benches. But on those occasions there 
were also particular places assigned for foreigners. 
When the good man skulked towards the boxes 
appointed for the Lacedaemonians,* that honest 



42 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 4 

people, more virtuous than polite, rose up all to a man, 
and with the greatest respect received him among 
them. The Athenians being suddenly touched with 
a sense of the Spartan virtue and their own degen- 
5 eracy, gave a thunder of applause; and the old man 
cried out, ' The Athenians understand what is good, 
but the Lacadsemonians practice it.'" 



\ / No. 4. Sir Roger at the Club 

Spectator No. 34. Monday, April 9, 1711 

parcit 

Cognatis maculis similis fera^ 

Juv. Sat. XV. 159. 

The club of which I am a member, is very luckily 
composed of such persons as are engaged in different 

lo ways of life, and deputed as it were out of the most 
conspicuous classes of mankind. By this means I 
am furnished with the greatest variety of hints and 
materials, and know everything that passes in the 
different quarters and divisions, not only of this 

15 great city, but of the whole kingdom. My readers 
too have the satisfaction to find that there is no 
rank or degree among them who have not their- 
representative in this club, and that there is always 
somebody present who will take care of their respec- 

20 tive interests, that nothing may be written or 
published to the prejudice or infringement of their 
just rights and privileges, 



No. 4] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 43 

I last night sat very late in company with this 
select body of friends, who entertained me with 
several remarks which they and others had made 
upon these my speculations, as also with the various 
success which they had met with among their several 5 
ranks and degrees of readers. Will Honeycomb told 
me, in the softest ^ manner he could, that there were 
some ladies (but for your comfort, says Will, they 
are not those of the most wit) that were offended 
at the liberties I had taken with the opera and the lo 
puppet-show; ^ that some of them were likewise 
very much surprised, that I should think such 
serious points as the dress and equipage ^ of persons 
of quality, proper subjects for raillery. 

He was going on, when Sir Andrew Freeport took 15 
him up short, and told him that the papers he hinted 
at, had done great good in the city, and that all 
their wives and daughters were the better for them ; 
and further added, that the whole city thought 
themselves very much obliged to me for declaring 20 
my generous intentions to scourge vice and folly as 
they appear in a multitude, without condescending 
to be a publisher of particular intrigues and cuck- 
oldoms. " In short," says Sir Andrew, " if you avoid 
that foolish beaten road of falling upon aldermen 25 
and citizens, and employ your pen upon the vanity 
and luxury of courts, your paper must needs be of 
general use." 

Upon this my friend the Templar ^ told Sir An- 



44 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 4 

drew, that he wondered to hear a man of his sense 
talk after that manner; that the city had always 
been the province for satire; and that the wits of 
King Charles's time jested upon nothing else during 

5 his whole reign. He then showed, by the examples 
of Horace,^ Juvenal/ Boileau,^ and the best writers 
of every age, that the^follies of the stage and court 
had never been accounted too sacred for ridicule, 
how great soever the persons might be that patron- 

lo ized them. "But after all," says he, "I think your 
raillery has made too great an excursion, in attack- 
ing several persons of the inns of court; and I do 
not believe you can show me any precedent for your 
behavior in that particular." 

IS My good friend Sir Roger de Coverley, who had 
said nothing all this while, began his speech with 
a' pish ! and told us, that he wondered to see so many 
men of sense so very serious upon fooleries. " Let 
our good friend," says he, "attack every one. that 

2o deserves it; I would only advise you, Mr. Spectator," 
applying himself to me, "to take care how you 
meddle with country 'squires. They are the orna- 
ments of the English nation; men of good heads 
and sound bodies! and, let me tell you, some of 

25 them take it ill of you, that you mention fox-hunters 
with so little respect." 

Captain Sentry spoke very sparingly on this occa- 
sion. What he said was only to commend my 
prudence in not touching upon the army, and 



No. 4] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 45 

advised me to continue to act discreetly in that 
point. 

By this time I found every subject of my specu- 
lations was taken away from me, by one or other 
of the club : and began to think myself in the con- 5 
dition of the good man that had one wife who took 
a dislike to his gray hairs, and another to his black, 
till by their picking out what each of them had an 
aversion to, they left his head altogether bald and 
naked. lo 

While I was thus musing with myself, my worthy 
friend the clergyman, who, very luckily for me, was 
at , the club that night, undertook my cause. He 
told us, that he wondered any order of persons 
should think themselves too considerable to be ad- 15 
vised. That it was not quality, but innocence, 
which exempted men from reproof. That vice and 
folly ought to be attacked wherever they could be 
met with, and especially when they were placed in 
high and conspicuous stations of life. He further 20 
added, that my paper would only serve to aggravate 
the pains of poverty, if it chiefly exposed those who 
are already depressed, and in some measure turned 
into ridicule, by the meanness of their conditions 
and circumstances. He afterward proceeded to take 25 
notice of the great use this paper might be of to the 
public, by reprehending those vices which are too 
trivial for the chastisement of the law, and too 
fantastical for the cognizance of the pulpit. He 



46 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 4 

then advised me to prosecute my undertaking with 
cheerfulness, and assured me, that whoever might 
be displeased with me, I should be approved by all 
those whose praises do honor to the persons on 

5 whom they are bestowed. 

The whole club pay a particular deference to the 
discourse of this gentleman, and are drawn into 
what he says, as much by the candid ingenuous 
manner with which he delivers himself, as by the 

lo strength of argument and force of reason which he 
makes use of. Will Honeycomb immediately agreed 
that what he had said was right; and that, for his 
part, he would not insist upon the quarter which he 
had demanded for the ladies. Sir Andrew gave up 

15 the city with the same frankness. The Templar 
would not stand out, and was followed by Sir Roger 
and the Captain; who all agreed that I should be at 
liberty to carry the war into what quarter I pleased ; 
provided I continued to combat with criminals in a 

20 body, and to assault the vice without hurting the 
person. 

This debate, which was held for the good of man- 
kind, put me in mind of that which the Roman 
triumvirate ^ were formerly engaged in for their 

25 destruction. Every man at first stood hard for his 
friend, till they found that by this means they 
should spoil their proscription; and at length, making 
a sacrifice of all their acquaintance and relations, 
furnished out a very decent execution. 



No. 5] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 47 

Having thus taken my resolutions to march on 
boldly in the cause of virtue and good sense, and 
to annoy their adversaries in whatever degree or 
rank of men they may be found; I shall be deaf for 
the future to all the remonstrances that shall be 5 
made to me on this account. If Punch ^^ grows 
extravagant, I shall reprimand him very freely: if 
the stage becomes a nursery of folly and imperti- 
nence, I shall not be afraid to animadvert upon it. 
In short, if I meet with anything in city, court, or lo 
country, that shocks modesty or good manners, I 
shall use my utmost endeavors to make an example 
of it. I must, however, entreat every particular 
person, who does me the honor to be a reader of 
this paper, never to think himself, or any of his ^5 
friends, or enemies, aimed at in what is said: for I 
promise him, never to draw a faulty character which 
does not fit at least a thousand people ; or to publish 
a single paper, that is not written in the spirit of 
benevolence, and with a love of mankind. 20 



I / No. 5. A Lady's Library 
Spectator No. 37. Thursday, April 12, 1711 
Non ilia colo calathisve Minervae 



Fcemineas assueta manus 



Virg. Mn. vii. 805. 



Some months ago, my friend. Sir Roger being in 
the country, enclosed a letter to me, directed to a 



48 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 5 

certain lady whom I shall here call by the name of 
Leonora, and as it contained matters of consequence, 
desired me to deliver it to her with my own hand. 
Accordingly I waited upon her ladyship pretty early 

5 in the morning, and was desired by her woman to 
walk into her lady's library ,2 till such time as she 
was in readiness to receive me. The very sound of 
a lady's library gave me a great curiosity to see it; 
and as it was some time before the lady came to me, 

10 I had an opportunity of turning over a great many 
of her books, which were ranged together in a very 
beautiful order. At the end of the folios (which 
were finely bound and gilt) were great jars of china ^ 
placed one above another in a very noble piece of 

15 architecture. The quartos were separated from the 
octavos by a pile of smaller vessels, which rose in a 
delightful pyramid. The octavos were bounded by 
tea-dishes of all shapes, colors, and sizes, which were 
so disposed on a wooden frame, that they looked 

20 like one continued pillar indented with the finest 
strokes of sculpture, and stained with the greatest 
variety of dies. That part of the library which was 
designed for the reception of plays and pamphlets, 
and other loose papers, was enclosed in a kind of 

25 square, consisting of one of the prettiest grotesque 
works that I ever saw, and made up of scara- 
mouches,"* lions, monkeys, mandarins, trees, shells, 
and a thousand other odd figures in china ware. In 
the midst of the room was a small japan table, with 



No. 5] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 49 

a quire of gilt paper upon it, and on the paper a 
silver snuff-box made in the shape of a little book. 
I found there were several other counterfeit books 
upon the upper shelves, which were carved in wood, 
and served only to fill up the numbers like fagots ^ 5 
in the muster of a regiment. I was wonderfully 
pleased with such a mixed kind of furniture, as 
seemed very suitable both to the lady and the 
scholar, and did not know at first whether I should 
fancy myself in a grotto, or in a library. lo 

Upon my looking into the books, I found there 
were some few which the lady had bought for her 
own use, but that most of them had been got to- 
gether, either because she had heard them praised, 
or because she had seen the authors of them. 15 
Among several that I examined, I very well remem- 
ber these that follow: 

Ogleby's Virgil.* 

Dryden's Juvenal.^ 

Cassandra.® 20 

Cleopatra. * 

Astrsea.® 

Sir Isaac Newton's ^ Works. 

The Grand Cyrus; ^^ with a pin stuck in one of the 

middle leaves. 25 

Pembroke's Arcadia." 
Locke ^^ on Human Understanding; with a paper of 

patches ^^ in it. 



50 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 5 

A Spelling Book. 

A Dictionary for the explanation of hard words. 

Sherlock ^^ upon Death. 

The fifteen Comforts of Matrimony. ^^ 
5 Sir William Temple's ^® Essays. 

Father Malebranche's ^' Search after Truth, trans- 
lated into English. 

A Book of Novels. 

The Academy of Compliments, 
lo The Ladies' Calling.^^ 

Tales in Verse, by Mr. Durfey; ^^ bound in red 
leather, gilt on the back, and doubled down in 
several places. 

All the Classic Authors in wood. 
15 A set of Elzevirs ^^ by the same hand.^^ 

Clelia : ^^ which opened of itself in the place that 
describes two lovers in a bower. 

Baker's Chronicle. ^^ 

Advice to a Daughter.^^ 
20 The New Atalantis,^^ with a Key to it. 

Mr. Steele's Christian Hero.^^ 

A Prayer-book : with a bottle of Hungary Water ^^ 
by the side of it. 

Dr. Sacheverell's Speech.^^ 
25 Fielding's Trial.^^ 

Seneca's ^^ Morals. 

Taylor's ^^ Holy Living and Dying. 

La Ferte's ^^ Instructions for Country Dances. 



No. 5] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 51 

I was taking a catalogue in my pocket-book of 
these, and several other authors, when Leonora 
entered, and upon my presenting her with a letter 
from the knight, told me, with an unspeakable 
grace, that she hoped Sir Roger was in good health : 5 
I answered Yes, for I hate long speeches, and after 
a bow or two retired. 

Leonora was formerly a celebrated beauty, and 
is still a very lovely woman. She has been a widow 
for two or three years, and being unfortunate in her lo 
first marriage, has taken a resolution never to ven- 
ture upon a second. She has no children to take 
care of, and leaves the management of her estate 
to my good friend Sir Roger, But as the mind 
naturally sinks into a kind of lethargy, and falls ^5 
asleep, that is not agitated by some favorite pleas- 
ures and pursuits, Leonora has turned all the 
passions of her sex into a love of books and retire- 
ment. She converses chiefly with men (as she has 
often said herself), but it is only in their writings; 20 
and admits of very few male visitants,^^ except my 
friend Sir Roger, whom she hears with great pleasure, 
and without scandal. As her reading has lain very 
much among romances, it has given her a very 
particular turn of thinking, and discovers itself even 25 
in her house, her gardens, and her furniture. Sir 
Roger has entertained me an hour together with a 
description of her country seat, which is situated in 
It kind of wilderness, about an hundred miles distant 



52 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 5 

from London, and looks like a little enchanted 
palace. The rocks about her are shaped into arti- 
ficial grottoes covered with woodbines and jasmines. 
The woods are cut into shady walks, twisted into 

5 bowers, and filled with cages of turtles. ^^ The 
springs are made to run among pebbles, and by 
that means taught to murmur very agreeably. They 
are likewise collected into a beautiful lake that is 
inhabited by a couple of swans, and empties itself 

lo by a little rivulet which runs through a green 
meadow, and is known in the family by the name 
of "The Purling Stream.'' The knight likewise tells 
me, that this lady preserves her game better than 
any of the gentlemen in the country, not (says 

^5 Sir Roger) that she sets so great a value upon her 
partridges and pheasants, as upon her larks and 
nightingales. For she says that every bird which 
is killed in her ground, will spoil a concert, and that 

'^ she shall certainly miss him the next year. 

^ When I think how oddly this lady is improved 
by learning, I look upon her with a mixture of 
admiration and pity. Amidst these innocent en- 
tertainments which she has formed to herself, how 
much more valuable does she appear than those of 

25 her sex, who employ themselves in diversions that 
are less reasonable though more in fashion? What 
improvements would a woman have made, who is 
so susceptible of impressions from what she reads, 
had she been guided to such books as have a ten- 



No. 6] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 53 

dency to enlighten the understanding and rectify '^ 
the passions, as well as to those which are of a 
little more use than to divert the imagination? 

But the manner of a lady's employing herself 
usefully in reading, shall be the subject of another 5 
paper, in which I design to recommend such par- 
ticular books as may be proper for the improvement 
of the sex. And as this is a subject of a very nice 
nature, I shall desire my correspondents to give me 
their thoughts upon it. lo 



No. 6. Sir Roger at his Country-House 

Spectator No. 106. Monday, July 2, 1711 

Hinc tibi copia 



Manabit ad plenum, benigno 
Ruris honorum opulenta cornu.i 

Hor. Lib. 1. Od. xvii. 14. 

Having often received an invitation from my 
friend Sir Roger de Coverley to pass away a month 
with him in the country, I last week accompanied 
him thither, and am settled with him for some time 
at his country-house, where I intend to form several 15 
of my ensuing speculations. Sir Roger, who is very 
well acquainted with my humor, lets me rise and 
go to bed when I please, dine at his own table or 
in my chamber, as I think fit, sit still and say 
nothing without bidding me be merry. When the 20 
gentlemen of the country come to see him, he only 



54 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 6 

shows me at a distance. As I have been walking 
in his fields I have observed them stealing a sight 
of me over a hedge, and have heard the knight 
desiring them not to let me see them, for that I 

5 hated to be stared at. 

I am the more at ease in Sir Roger's family, be- 
cause it consists of sober and staid persons; for as 
the knight is the best master in the world, he seldom 
changes his servants; and as he is beloved by all 

lo about him, his servants never care for leaving him: 
by this means his domestics are all in years, and 
grown old with their master. You would take his 
valet de chambre for his brother, his butler is gray- 
headed, his groom is one of the gravest men that I 

15 have ever seen, and his coachman has the looks of 
a privy counselor. You see the goodness of the 
master eve-n in the old house-dog, and in a gray pad 
that is kept in the stable with great care and ten- 
derness out of regard to his past services, though he 

20 has been useless for several years. 

I could not but observe with a great deal of 
pleasure the joy that appeared in the countenances 
of these ancient domestics upon my friend's arrival 
at his country-seat. Some of them could not re- 

25 frain from tears at the sight of their old master; 
every one of them pressed forward to do something 
for him, and seemed discouraged if they were not 
employed. At the same time the good old knight, 
with a mixture of the father and the master of the 



No. 6] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 55 

family, tempered the inquiries after his own affairs 
with several kind questions relating to themselves. 
This humanity and good-nature engages everybody 
to him, so that when he is pleasant upon any of 
them, all his family are in good humor, and none so 5 
much as the person whom he diverts himself with: 
on the contrary, if he coughs, or betrays any in- 
firmity of old age, it is easy for a stander-by to 
observe a secret concern in the looks of all his 
servants. lo 

My worthy friend has put me under the particular 
care of his butler, who is a very prudent man, and, 
as well as the rest of his fellow-servants, wonder- 
fully desirous of pleasing me, because they have 
often heard their master talk of me as of his par- 15 
ticular friend. 

My chief companion, when Sir Roger is diverting 
himself in the woods or the fields, is a very venerable 
man who is ever with Sir Roger, and has lived at 
his house in the nature of a chaplain above thirty 20 
years. This gentleman is a person of good sense 
and some learning, of a very regular life and obliging 
conversation: he heartily loves Sir Roger, and knows 
that he is very much in the old knight's esteem, so 
that he lives in the family rather as a relation than 25 
a dependent. 

I have observed in several of my papers, that my 
friend Sir Roger, amidst all his good qualities, is 
something of a humorist; and that his virtues, as 



56 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 6 

well as imperfections, are as it were tinged by a 
certain extravagance, which makes them particu- 
larly his, and distinguishes them from those of 
other men. This cast of mind, as it is generally 
5 very innocent in itself, so it renders his conversation 
highly agreeable, and more delightful than the same 
degree of sense and virtue would appear in their 
common and ordinary colors. As I was walking 
with him last night, he asked me how I liked the 

lo good man whom I have just now mentioned? and 
without staying for my answer told me, that he 
was afraid of being insulted with Latin and Greek 
at his own table; for which reason he desired a 
particular friend of his at the university to find 

15 him out a clergyman rather of plain sense than 
much learning, of a good aspect, a clear voice, a 
sociable temper, and, if possible, a man that under- 
stood a little of back-gammon. "My friend," says 
Sir Roger, "found me out this gentleman, who, 

W besides the endowments required of him, is, they 

"^ tell me, a good scholar, though he does not show it. 
I have given him the parsonage of the parish; and 
because I know his value, have settled upon him a 
good annuity for life. If he out-lives me, he shall 

25 find that he was higher in my esteem than perhaps 
he thinks he is. He has now been with me thirty 
years; and though he does not know I have taken 
notice of it, has never in all that time asked any- 
thing of me for himself, though he is every day 



No. 6] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 57 

soliciting me for something in behalf of one or other 
of my tenants his parishioners. There has not been 
a lawsuit in the parish since he has lived among 
them; if any dispute arises they apply themselves 
to him for the decision; if they do not acquiesce in 5 
his judgment, which I think never happened above 
once or twice at most, they appeal to me. At his 
first settling with me, I made him a present of all ) 
the good sermons which have been printed in Eng- 
lish, and only begged of him that every Sunday he 10 
would pronounce one of them in the pulpit. Ac- 
cordingly he has digested them into such a series, 
that they follow one another naturally, and make 
a continued system of practical divinity." 

As Sir Roger was going on in his story, the gen- 15 
tleman we were talking of came up to us; and upon 
the knight's asking him who preached to-morrow 
(for it was Saturday night), told us the bishop of 
St. Asaph ^ in the morning, and Dr. South in the 
afternoon. He then showed us his list of preachers 20 
for the w^hole year, where I saw with a great deal of 
pleasure, archbishop Tillotson,^ bishop Saunderson, 
Dr. Barrow, Dr. Calamy, with several living authors 
who have published discourses of practical divinity. 
I no sooner saw this venerable man in the pulpit, 25 
but I very much approved of my friend's insisting 
upon the qualifications of a good aspect and a clear 
voice; for I was so charmed with the gracefulness 
of his figure and delivery, as well as with the dis- 



58 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 7 

courses he pronounced, that I think I never passed 
any time more to my satisfaction. A sermon re- 
peated after this manner, is like the composition of 
a poet in the mouth of a graceful actor. 

5 I could heartily wish that more of our country 
clergy would follow this example; and instead of 
wasting their spirits in laborious compositions of 
their own, would endeavor after a handsome elocu- 
tion, and all those other talents that are proper to 

10 enforce what has been penned by greater masters. 
This would not only be more easy to themselves, 
but more edifying to the people. 

w No. 7. Sir Roger's Servants 
Spectator No. 107. Tuesday, July 3, 1711 

^sopo ingentem statuam posuere Attici, 
Servumque collocarunt aeterna in basi, 
Patere honoris scirent ut cunctis viam.^ 

Phcedr.F.p. 1.2. 

The reception, manner of attendance, undisturbed 
freedom and quiet, which I meet with here in the 

15 country, has confirmed me in the opinion I always 
had, that the general corruption of manners in 
servants is owing to the conduct of masters. The 
aspect of every one in the family carries so much 
satisfaction, that it appears he knows the happy 

20 lot which has befallen him in being a member of it. 
There is one particular which I have seldom seen 



No. 7] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 59 

but at Sir Roger's; it is usual in all other places, 
that servants fly from the parts of the house through 
which their master is passing; on the contrary, here 
they industriously place themselves in his way; and 
it is on both sides, as it were, understood as a visit, 5 
when the servants appear without calling. This 
proceeds from the humane and equal temper of the 
man of the house, who also perfectly well knows 
how to enjoy a great estate, with such economy as 
ever to be much beforehand. This makes his own lo 
mind untroubled, and consequently unapt to vent 
peevish expressions, or give passionate or inconsist- 
ent orders to those about him. Thus respect and 
love go together; and a certain cheerfulness in per- 
formance of their duty is the particular distinction ^5 
of the lower part of this family. When a servant 
is called before his master, he does not come with 
an expectation to hear himself rated for some trivial 
fault, threatened to be stripped, or used with any 
other unbecoming language, which mean masters 20 
often give to worthy servants; but it is often to 
know, what road he took that he came so readily 
back according to order; whether he passed by such 
a ground; if the old man who rents it is in good 
health; or whether he gave Sir Roger's love to him, 25 
or the like. 

A man who preserves a respect founded on his 
benevolence to his dependents, lives rather like a 
prince than a master in his family; his orders are 



60 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 7 

received as favors rather than duties; and the 
distinction of approaching him is part of the reward 
for executing what is commanded by him. 

There is another circumstance in which my friend 

5 excels in his management, which is the manner of 
rewarding his servants. He has ever been of opin- 
ion, that giving his cast clothes to be worn by 
valets has a very ill effect upon little minds, and 
creates a silly sense of equality between the parties, 

lo in persons affected only with outward things. I 
have heard him often pleasant on this occasion, and 
describe a young gentleman abusing his man in that 
coat, which a month or two before was the most 
pleasing distinction he was conscious of in himself. 

15 He would turn his discourse still more pleasantly 
upon the bounties of the ladies in this kind; and I 
have heard him say he knew a fine woman, who 
distributed rewards and punishments in giving 
becoming or unbecoming dresses to her maids. 

20 But my good friend is above these little instances 
of good-will, in bestowing only trifles on his servants; 
a good servant to him is sure of having it in his 
choice very soon of being no servant at all. As I 
before observed, he is so good a husband,^ and 

25 knows so thoroughly that the skill of the purse is 
the cardinal virtue of this life; I say, he knows so 
well that frugality is the support of generosity, that 
he can often spare a large fine ^ when a tenement 
falls ,^ and give that settlement to a good servant 



No. 7] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 61 

who has a mind to go into the world, or make a 
stranger pay the fine to that servant, for his more 
comfortable maintenance, if he stays in his service. 

A man of honor and generosity considers it would 
be miserable to himself to have no will but that of 5 
another, though it were of the best person breathing, 
and for that reason goes on as fast as he is able to 
put his servants into independent livelihoods. The 
greatest part of Sir Roger's estate is tenanted by 
persons who have served himself or his ancestors. lo 
It was to me extremely pleasant to observe the 
visitants from several parts to welcome his arrival 
into the country : and all the difference that I could 
take notice of between the late servants who came 
to see him, and those who stayed in the family, was i5 
that these latter were looked upon as finer gentlemen 
and better courtiers. 

This manumission and placing them in a way of 
livelihood, I look upon as only what is due to a 
good servant; which encouragement will make his 20 
successor be as diligent, as humble, and as ready as 
he was. There is something wonderful in the nar- 
rowness of those minds, which can be pleased, and 
be barren of bounty to those who please them. 

One might, on this occasion, recount the sense 25 
that great persons in all ages hatve had of the merit 
of their dependents, and the heroic services which 
men have done their masters in the extremity of 
their fortunes, and shown to their undone patrons. 



62 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. ) 

that fortune was all the difference between them; 
but as I design this my speculation only as a gentle 
admonition to thankless masters, I shall not go out 
of the occurrences of common life, but assert it as 

5 a general observation, that I never saw, but in 
Sir Roger's family, and one or two more, good 
servants treated as they ought to be. Sir Roger's 
kindness extends to their children's children, and 
this very morning he sent his coachman's grandson 

lo to prentice.^ I shall conclude this paper with an 
account of a picture in his gallery, where there are 
many which will deserve my future observation. 

At the very upper end of this handsome structure 
I saw the portraiture of two young men standing in 

15 a river, the one naked, the other in a livery. The 
person supported seemed half dead, but still so 

. much alive as to show in his face exquisite joy and 
love towards the other. I thought the fainting figure 
resembled my friend Sir Roger; and looking at the 

20 butler who stood by me, for an account of it, he 
informed me that the person in the livery was a 
servant of Sir Roger's, who stood on the shore while 
his master was swimming, and observing him taken 
with some sudden illness and sink under water, 

25 jumped in and saved him. He told me Sir Roger 
took off the dress he was in ® as soon as he came 
home, and by a great bounty at that time, followed 
by his favor ever since, had made him master of 
that pretty seat which we saw at a distance as we 



No. 8] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 63 

came to this house. I remembered indeed Sir 
Roger said, there Hved a very worthy gentleman, 
to whom he was highly obliged, without mentioning • 
anything further. Upon my looking a little dis- 
satisfied at some part of the picture, my attendant 5 
informed me that it was against Sir Roger's will, 
and at the earnest request of the gentleman himself, 
that he w^as drawn in the habit in which he had 
saved his master. 

No. 8. Will Wimble 

Spectator No. 108. Wednesday, July 4, 1711 

Gratis anhelans, multa agendo nihil agens.^ 

PhoBdr. Fab. v. 1. 2. 

As I was yesterday morning walking with Sir 1° 
Roger before his house, a country -fellow brought 
him a huge fish, which, he told him, Mr. William 
Wimble had caught that very morning; and that 
he presented it with his service to him, and intended 
to come and dine with him. At the same time he ^5 
delivered a letter, which my friend read to me as 
soon as the messenger left him. 

"Sir Roger, 

"I desire you to accept of a jack, which is the 
best I have caught this season. I intend to come 20 
and stay with you a week, and see how the perch 



64 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 8 

bite in the Black river. I observed with some 
concern, the last time I saw you upon the bowling- 

• green, that your whip wanted a lash to it; I will 
bring half a dozen with me that I twisted last week, 

5 which I hope will serve you all the time you are in 
the country. I have not been out of the saddle 
for six days last past, having been at Eton with 
Sir John's eldest son. He takes to his learning 
hugely. " I am. Sir, 

lo "Your humble servant, 

"Will Wimble." 

This extraordinary letter, and message that ac- 
companied it, made me very curious to know the 
character and quality of the gentleman who sent 

15 them; which I found to be as follows. — Will Wimble 
is younger brother to a baronet, and descended of 
the ancient family of the Wimbles. He is now 
between forty and fifty; but being bred to no busi- 
ness, and born to no estate, he generally lives with 

20 his elder brother as superintendent of his game. 
He hunts a pack of dogs better than any man in the 
country, and is very famous for finding out a hare. 
He is extremely w^ell versed in all the little handi- 
crafts of an idle man. He makes a May-fly to a 

25 miracle; and furnishes the whole country with angle- 
rods. As he is a good-natured officious fellow, and 
very much esteemed upon account of his family, he 
is a welcome guest at every house, and keeps up a 



No. 8] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 65 

good correspondence among all the gentlemen about 
him. He carries a tulip root in his pocket from 
one to another, or exchanges a puppy between a 
couple of friends that live perhaps in the opposite 
sides of the country. Will is a particular favorite 5 
of all the young heirs, whom he frequently obliges 
with a net that he has weaved, or a setting-dog that 
he has made himself. He now and then presents 
a pair of garters of his own knitting to their mothers 
or sisters; and raises a great deal of mirth among lo 
them, by inquiring as often as he meets them " how 
they wear!" These gentleman-like manufactures 
and obliging little humors make Will the darling of 
the country. 

Sir Roger was proceeding in the character of him, 15 
when he saw him make up to us with two or three 
hazel twigs in his hand that he had cut in Sir 
Roger's woods, as he came through them, in his 
way to the house. I was very much pleased to 
observe on one side the hearty and sincere welcome 20 
with which Sir Roger received him, and on the other, 
the secret joy which his guest discovered at sight of 
the good old knight. After the first salutes were 
over. Will desired Sir Roger to lend him one of his 
servants to carry a set of shuttle-cocks he had with 25 
him in a little box, to a lady that lived about a 
mile off, to whom it seems he had promised such a 
present for above this half year. Sir Roger's back 
was no sooner turned but honest Will began to tell 



66 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 8 

me of a large cock pheasant that he had sprung in 
one of the neighboring woods, with two or three 
other adventures of the same nature. Odd and 
uncommon characters are the game that I look for, 

5 and most delight in; for which reason I was as much 
pleased with the novelty of the person that talked 
to me, as he could be for his life with the springing 
of a pheasant, and therefore listened to him with 
more than ordinary attention. 

lo In the midst of this discourse the bell rung to 
dinner, where the gentleman I have been speaking 
of had the pleasure of seeing the huge jack, he had 
caught, served up for the first dish in a most sump- 
tuous manner. Upon our sitting down to it he gave 

15 us a long account how he had hooked it, played 
with it, foiled it, and at length drew it out upon the 
bank, with several other particulars that lasted all 
the first course. A dish of wild fowl that came 
afterwards furnished conversation for the rest of 

20 the dinner, which concluded with a late invention 
of Will's for improving the quail-pipe.^ 

Upon withdrawing into my room after dinner, I was 
secretly touched with compassion towards the honest 
gentleman that had dined with us; and could not but 

25 consider with a great deal of concern, how so good an 
heart and such busy hands were wholly employed in 
trifles ; that so much humanity should be so little bene- 
ficial to others, and so much industry so little advan- 
tageous to himself. The same temper of mind and 



No. 8] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 67 

application to affairs might have recommended him 
to the pubUc esteem, and have raised his fortune in 
another station of life. What good to his country or 
himself might not a trader or a merchant have done 
with such useful though ordinary qualifications? 5 

Will Wimble's is the case of many a younger 
brother of a great family, who had rather see their *- 
children starve like gentlemen, than thrive in a / 
trade or profession that is beneath their quality. 
This humor fills several parts of Europe with pride lo 
and beggary. It is the happiness of a trading 
nation like ours, that the younger sons, though 
incapable of any liberal art or profession, may be 
placed in such a way of life, as may perhaps enable 
them to vie with the best of their family. Accord- ^5 
ingly we find several citizens that were launched 
into the world with narrow fortunes, rising by an 
honest industry to greater estates than those of 
their elder brothers. It is not improbable but Will 
was formerly tried at divinity, law, or physic; and 20 
that finding his genius did not lie that way, his 
parents gave him up at length to his own inventions. 
But certainly, however improper he might have 
been for studies of a higher nature, he was perfectly 
well turned for the occupations of trade and com- 25 
merce. As I think this is a point which cannot be 
too much inculcated, I shall desire my reader to 
compare what I have here written with what I have 
said in my twenty-first speculation. 



68 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 9 

No. 9. Sir Roger's Ancestors 
Spectator No. 109. Thursday, July 5, 1711 
Abnormis sapiens- 



Hor. Lib. 2. Sat. ii. 3. 

I WAS this morning walking in the gallery, when 
Sir Roger entered at the end opposite to me, and 
advancing towards me, said he was glad to meet 
me among his relations the De Coverleys, and hoped 

5 I liked the conversation of so much good company, 
who were as silent as myself. I knew he alluded 
to the pictures, and as he is a gentleman who does 
not a little value himself upon his ancient descent, 
I expected he would give me some account of them. 

'o We were now arrived at the upper end of the 
gallery, when the knight faced towards one of the 
pictures, and as we stood before it, he entered into 
the matter, after his blunt way of saying things, as 
they occur to his imagination, without regular intro- 

■5 duction, or care to preserve the appearance of chain 
of thought. 

"It is," said he, "worth while to consider the 
force of dress; and how the persons of one age 
differ from those of another, merely by that only. 

!o One may observe also, that the general fashion of 
one age has been followed by one particular set of 
people in another, and by them preserved from one 
generation to another. Thus the vast jetting coat 



No. 9] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 69 

and small bonnet, which was the habit in Harry the 
Seventh's ^ time, is kept on in the yeomen of the 
guard ;^ not without a good and politic view, be- 
cause they look a foot taller, and a foot and a half 
broader: besides, that the cap leaves the face ex- 5 
panded, and consequently more terrible, and fitter 
to stand at the entrance of palaces. 

" This predecessor of ours you see is dressed after 
this manner, and his cheeks would be no larger 
than mine, were he in a hat as I am. He was the ^o 
last man that won a prize in the Tilt-yard * (w^hich 
is now a common street before Whitehall^). You 
see the broken lance that lies there by his right 
foot. He shivered that lance of his adversary all 
to pieces; and bearing himself, look you, sir, in this i5 
manner, at the same time he came within the target 
of the gentleman who rode against him, and taking 
him with incredible force before him on the pummel 
of his saddle, he in that manner rid the tournament 
over, with an air that showed he did it rather to 20 
perform the rule of the lists, than expose his enemy; 
however, it appeared he knew how to make use of 
a victory, and with a gentle trot he marched up to 
a gallery, where their mistress sat (for they were 
rivals), and let him down with laudable courtesy 25 
and pardonable insolence. I do not know but it 
might be exactly where the coffee-house ^ is now. 

" You are to know this my ancestor was not only 
of a military genius, but fit also for the arts of 



70 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 9 

peace, for he played on the bass-viol as well as any 
gentleman at court; you see where his viol hangs 
by his basket-hilt sword. The action at the Tilt- 
yard you may be sure won the fair lady, who was 

5 a maid of honor, and the greatest beauty of her 
time; here she stands the next picture. You see, 
sir, my great great great grandmother has on the 
new-fashioned petticoat,^ except that the modern 
is gathered at the waist; my grandmother appears 

■o as if she stood in a large drum, whereas the ladies 
now walk as if they were in a go-cart. For all this 
lady was bred at court, she became an excellent 
country-wife, she brought ^ ten children, and when 
I show you the library, you shall see in her own 

c5 hand (allowing for the difference of the language) 
the best receipt now in England both for an hasty- 
pudding and a white-pot.^ 

"If you please to fall back a little, because it is 
necessary to look at the three next pictures at one 

2o view; these are three sisters. She on the right hand 
who is so very beautiful, died a maid; the next to 
her, still handsomer, had the same fate, against her 
will; this homely thing in the middle had both their 
portions added to her own, and was stolen by a 

25 neighboring gentleman, a man of stratagem and 
resolution, for he poisoned three mastiffs to come 
at her, and knocked down two deer-stealers in 
carrying her off. Misfortunes happen in all families. 
The theft of this romp, and so much money, was no 



No. 9] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 71 

great matter to our estate. But the next heir that 
possessed it was this soft gentleman, whom you see 
there. Observe the small buttons, the little boots, 
the laces, the slashes about his clothes, and above 
all the posture he is drawn in (which to be sure was 5 
his own choosing), you see he sits with one hand 
on a desk writing and looking as it were another 
way, like an easy writer, or a sonnetteer. He was 
one of those that had too much wit to know how 
to live in the world; he was a man of no justice, lo 
but great good manners; he ruined everybody that 
had anything to do with him, but never said a 
rude thing in his life; the most indolent person in 
the world; he would sign a deed that passed away 
half his estate with his gloves on, but would not i5 
put on his hat before a lady if it were to save his 
country. He is said to be the first that made love 
by squeezing the hand. He left the estate with ten 
thousand pounds debt upon it; but however by all 
hands I have been informed that he was every way the 20 
finest gentleman in the world. That debt lay heavy 
on our house for one generation, but it was retrieved 
by a gift from that honest man you see there, a citi- 
zen of our name, but nothing at all akin to us. I 
know Sir Andrew Freeport has said behind my back, 25 
that this man was descended from one of the ten 
children of the maid of honor I showed you above ; 
but it was never made out. We winked at the thing 
indeed, because money was wanting at that time." 



72 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 9 

Here I saw my friend a little embarrassed, and 
turned my face to the next protraiture. 

Sir Roger went on with his account of the gallery 
in the following manner: "This man (pointing to 

5 him I looked at) I take to be the honor of our 

. house. Sir Humphrey de Coverley; he was in his 
dealings as punctual as a tradesman, and as generous 
as a gentleman. He would have thought himself 
as much undone by breaking his word, as if it were 

lo to be followed by bankruptcy. He served his 
country as knight of the shire ^^ to his dying day. 
He found it no easy matter to maintain an integrity 
in his words and actions, even in things that re- 
garded the offices which were incumbent upon him, 

15 in the care of his own affairs and relations of life, 
and therefore dreaded (though he had great talents) 
to go into employments of state, where he must be 
exposed to the snares of ambition. Innocence of 
life and great ability were the distinguishing parts 

20 of his character; the latter, he had often observed, 
had led to the destruction of the former, and he 
used frequently to lament that great and good had 
not the same signification. He was an excellent 
husbandman, ^^ but had resolved not to exceed 

25 such a ^^ degree of wealth; all above it he be- 
stowed in secret bounties many years after the 
sum he aimed at for his own use was attained. 
Yet he did not slacken his industry, but to a de- 
cent old age spent the life and fortune which was 



No. 10] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 73 

superfluous to himself, in the service of his friends ^ 
and neighbors." 

Here we were called to dinner, and Sir Roger 
ended the discourse of this gentleman, by telling 
me, as we followed the servant, that this his ancestor 5 
was a brave man, and narrowly escaped being killed 
in the civil wars; "For," said he, "he was sent out 
of the field upon a private message, the day before 
the battle of Worcester. " ^^ The whim of narrowly 
escaping by having been within a day of danger, lo 
with other matters above-mentioned, mixed with 
good sense, left me at a loss whether I was more 
delighted with my friend's wisdom or simplicity. 



No. 10. Ghosts 

Spectator No. 110. Friday, July 6, 1711 

Horror ubique animos, simul ipsa silentia terrent.^ 

Virg. JEn. ii. 755. 

At a little distance from Sir Roger's house, 
among the ruins of an old abbey, there is a long 15 
walk of aged elms; which are shot up so very high, 
that when one passes under them, the rooks and 
crows that rest upon the tops of them seem to be 
cawing in another region. I am very much delighted 
with this sort of noise, which I consider as a kind of 20 
natural prayer to that Being who supplies the wants 
of his whole creation, and who, in the beautiful 



74 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 10 

language of the Psalms,^ feedeth the young ravens 
that call upon him. I like this retirement the 
better, because of an ill report it lies under of being 
haunted; for which reason (as I have been told in 

5 the family) no living creature ever walks in it 
besides the chaplain. My good friend the butler 
desired me with a very grave face not to venture 
myself in it after sunset, for that one of the footmen 
had been almost frighted out of his wits by a spirit 

lo that appeared to him in the shape of a black horse 
without a head; to which he added, that about a 
month ago one of the maids coming home late that 
way with a pail of milk upon her head, heard such 
a rustling among the bushes that she let it fall. 

15 I was taking a walk in this place last night be- 
tween the hours of nine and ten, and could not but 
fancy it one of the most proper scenes in the world 
for a ghost to appear in. The ruins of the abbey 
are scattered up and down on every side, and half 

20 covered with ivy and elder bushes, the harbors of 
several solitary birds which seldom make their ap- 
pearance till the dusk of the evening. The place 
was formerly a churchyard, and has still several 
marks in it of graves and burying-places. There is 

25 such an echo among the old ruins and vaults, that 
if you stamp but a little louder than ordinary, you 
hear the sound repeated. At the same time the 
walk of elms, with the croaking of the ravens which 
from time to time are heard from the tops of them, 



No. 10] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 75 

looks exceeding solemn and venerable. These 
objects naturally raise seriousness and attention; 
and when night heightens the awfulness of the 
place, and pours out her supernumerary horrors 
upon everything in it, I do not at all wonder that 5 
weak minds fill it with specters and apparitions. 

Mr. Locke,^ in his chapter of the Association of 
Ideas, has very curious remarks to show how, by 
the prejudice of education, one idea often introduces 
into the mind a whole set that bear no resemblance ^° 
to one another in the nature of things. Among 
several examples of this kind, he produces the 
following instance : " The ideas of goblins and sprites 
have really no more to do with darkness than light: 
yet let but a foolish maid inculcate these often on ^5 
the mind of a child, and raise them there together, 
possibly he shall never be able to separate them 
again so long as he lives; but darkness shall ever 
afterwards bring with it those frightful ideas, and 
they shall be so joined, that he can no more bear 20 
the one than the other." 

As I was walking in this solitude, where the dusk 
of the evening conspired with so many other occa- 
sions of terror, I observed a cow grazing not far 
from me, which an imagination that was apt to 25 
startle might easily have construed into a black horse 
without an head: and I dare say the poor footman 
lost his wits upon some such trivial occasion. 

My friend Sir Roger has often told me with a 



76 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 10 

great deal of mirth, that at his first coming to his 
estate he found three parts of his house altogether 
useless; that the best room in it had the reputation 
of being haunted, and by that means was locked up; 

5 that noises had been heard in his long gallery, so 
that he could not get a servant to enter it after 
eight o'clock at night; that the door of one of his 
chambers was nailed up, because there went a story 
in the family that a butler had formerly hanged him- 

lo self in it ; and that his mother, who lived to a great 
age, had shut up half the rooms in the house, in which 
either her husband, a son, or daughter had died. The 
knight seeing his habitation reduced to so small a 
compass, and himself in a manner shut out of his 

15 own house, upon the death of his mother ordered 
all the apartments to be flung open, and exorcised 
by his chaplain, who lay in every room one after 
another, and by that means dissipated the fears 
which had so long reigned in the family. 

20 I should not have been thus particular upon these 
ridiculous horrors, did not I find them so very much 
prevail in all parts of the country. At the same 
time I think a person who is thus terrified with the 
imagination of ghosts and specters much more 

25 reasonable than one who, contrary to the reports of 
all historians, sacred and profane, ancient and 
modern, and to the traditions of all nations, thinks 
the appearance of spirits fabulous and groundless. 
Could not I give myself up to this general testimony 



No. 10] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 77 

of mankind, I should to the relations of particular 
persons who are now living, and whom I cannot 
distrust in other matters of fact. I might here add, 
that not only the historians, to whom we may join 
the poets, but likewise the philosophers of antiquity, 5 
have favored this opinion. Lucretius ^ himself, 
though by the course of his philosophy he was 
obliged to maintain that the soul did not exist 
separate from the body, makes no doubt of the 
reality of apparitions, and that men have often lo 
appeared after their death. This I think very re- 
markable: he was so pressed with the matter of 
fact, which he could not have the confidence to 
deny, that he was forced to account for it by one 
of the most absurd unphilosophical notions that ^5 
was ever started. He tells us, that the surfaces of 
all bodies are perpetually flying off from their 
respective bodies, one after another; and that these 
surfaces or thin cases that included each other whilst 
they were joined in the body like the coats of an 20 
onion, are sometimes seen entire when they are 
separated from it; by which means we often behold 
the shapes and shadows of persons who are either 
dead or absent. 

I shall dismiss this paper with a story out of 25 
Josephus,^ not so much for the sake of the story 
itself as for the moral reflections -with which the 
author concludes it, and which I shall here set down 
in his own words. " Glaphyra, • the daughter of 



78 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 10 

king Archelaus, after the death of her two first 
husbands (being married to a third, who was brother 
to her first husband, and so passionately in love 
with her, that he turned off his former wife to make 

5 room for this marriage) had a very odd kind of 
dream. She fancied that she saw her first husband 
coming towards her, and that she embraced him 
with great tenderness; when in the midst of the 
pleasure which she expressed at the sight of him, 

lo he reproached her after the following manner; 
' Glaphyra,' says he, 'thou hast made good the old 
saying, that women are not to be trusted. Was 
not I the husband of thy virginity? Have I not 
children by thee? How couldst thou forget our 

15 loves so far as to enter into a second marriage, and 
after that into a third? However, for the sake of 
our passed loves, I shall free thee from thy present 
reproach, and make thee mine for ever.' Glaphyra 
told this dream to several women of her acquaint- 

20 ance, and died soon after. I thought this story 
might not be impertinent in this place, wherein I 
speak of those kings. Besides that the example 
deserves to be taken notice of, as it contains a most 
certain proof of the immortality of the soul, and, of 

25 Divine Providence. If any man thinks these facts 
incredible, let him enjoy his own opinion to himself, 
but let him not endeavor to disturb the belief of 
others, who by instances of thiS nature are excited 
to the study of virtue." 



No. 11] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 79 

No. 11. A Sunday in the Country 
Spectator No. 112. Monday, July 9, 1711 

^Adavdrovs ixkv irpuJra deoi/s, v6fi(^ ws SidKeiTai 

Pythag.^ 

I AM always very well pleased with a country 
Sunday, and think, if keeping holy the seventh day 
were only a human institution, it would be the best 
method that could have been thought of for the 
polishing and civilizing of mankind. It is certain 5 
the country people would soon degenerate into a 
kind of savages and barbarians, were there not such 
frequent returns of a stated time, in which the whole 
village meet together with their best faces, and in 
their cleanliest habits, to converse with one another 10 
upon indifferent subjects, hear their duties ex- 
plained to them, and join together in adoration of 
the Supreme Being. Sunday clears away the rust 
of the whole week, not only as it refreshes in their 
minds the notions of religion, but as it puts both 15 
the sexes upon appearing in their most agreeable 
forms, and exerting all such qualities as are apt to 
give them a figure in the eye of the village. A 
country fellow distinguishes himself as much in the 
churchyard, as a citizen does upon the 'Change, the 20 
whole parish-politics being generally discussed in that 
place either after sermon or before the bell rings. 



80 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 11 

My friend Sir Roger, being a good churchman, 
has beautified the inside of his church with several 
texts of his own choosing. He has likewise given 
a handsome pulpit-cloth, and railed in the com- 

5 munion-table at his own expense. He has often 
told me, that at his coming into his estate he found 
his parishioners very irregular; and that in order to 
make them kneel and join in the responses, he gave 
every one of them a hassock and a common-prayer- 

lo book; and at the same time employed an itinerant 
singing-master, who goes about the country for that 
purpose, to instruct them rightly in the tunes of the 
Psalms; upon which they now very much value 
themselves, and indeed outdo most of the country 

15 churches that I have ever heard. 

As Sir Roger is landlord to the whole congregation, 
he keeps them in very good order, and will suffer 
nobody to sleep in it besides himself; for if by chance 
he has been surprised into a short nap at sermon, 

20 upon recovering out of it he stands up and looks 
about him, and if he sees anybody else nodding, 
either wakes them himself, or sends his servants to 
them. Several other of the old knight's particu- 
larities break out upon these occasions. Some- 

25 times he will be lengthening out a verse in the sing- 
ing Psalms, half a minute after the rest of the 
congregation have done with it; sometimes when he 
is pleased with the matter of his devotion, he pro- 
nounces "Amen" three or four times to the same 



No. 11] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 81 

prayer; and sometimes stands up when everybody 
else is upon their knees, to count the congregation, 
or see if any of his tenants are missing. 

I was yesterday very much surprised to hear my 
old friend, in the midst of the service calling out to 5 
one John Matthews to mind what he was about, 
and not disturb the congregation. This John Mat- 
thews it seems is remarkable for being an idle fellow, 
and at that time was kicking his heels for his diver- 
sion. This authority of the knight, though exerted 1° 
in that odd manner, which accompanies him in all 
circumstances of life, has a very good effect upon 
the parish, who are not polite enough to see any- 
thing ridiculous in his behavior; besides that the 
general good sense and worthiness of his character i5 
make his friends observe these little singularities as 
foils that rather set off than blemish his good 
qualities. 

As soon as the sermon is finished, nobody pre- 
sumes to stir till Sir Roger is gone out of the church. 20 
The knight walks down from his seat in the chancel 
between a double row of his tenants, that stand 
bowing to him on each side: and every now and 
then inquires how such a one's wife, or mother, or 
son, or father do, whom he does not see at church; 25 
which is understood as a secret reprimand to the 
person that is absent. 

The chaplain has often told me, that upon a 
catechising day, when Sir Roger has been pleased 



82 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 11 

with a boy that answers well, he has ordered a 
Bible to be given him next day for his encourage- 
ment; and sometimes accompanies it with a flitch 
of bacon to his mother. Sir Roger has likewise 

5 added five pounds a year to the clerk's place; and 
that he may encourage the young fellows to make 
themselves perfect in the church-service, has prom- 
ised upon the death of the present incumbent, who 
is very old, to bestow it according to merit. 

lo The fair understanding between Sir Roger and 
his chaplain, and their mutual concurrence in doing 
good, is the more remarkable, because the very 
next village is famous for the differences and con- 
tentions that rise between the parson and the 

IS 'squire, who live in a perpetual state of war. The 
parson is always preaching at the 'squire; and the 
'squire, to be revenged on the parson, never comes 
to church. The 'squire has made all his tenants 
atheists and tithe-stealers ; while the parson in- 

2o structs them every Sunday in the dignity of his 
order, and insinuates to them, in almost every 
sermon, that he is a better man than his patron. 
In short, matters are come to such an extremity, 
that the 'squire has not said his prayers either in 

25 public or private this half year; and that the parson 

threatens him, if he does not mend his manners, to 

pray for him in the face of the whole congregation. 

Feuds of this nature, though too frequent in the 

country, are very fatal to the ordinary people; who 



No. 12] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 83 

are so used to be dazzled with riches, that they pay 
as much deference to the understanding of a man 
of an estate, as of a man of learning; and are very 
hardly brought to regard any truth, how important 
soever it may be, that is preached to them, when 5 
they know there are several men of five hundred a 
year w^ho do not believe it. 



No. 12. Sir Roger and the Widow 

Spectator No. 113. Tuesday, July 10, 1711 

Hserent infixi pectore vultus.^ 

Virg. JEn. iv. 4. 

In my first description of the company in which 
I pass most of my time, it may be remembered, 
that I mentioned a great affliction which my friend lo 
Sir Roger had met with in his youth; which was no 
less than a disappointment in love. It happened 
this evening, that we fell into a very pleasing walk 
at a distance from his house. As soon as we came 
into it, "It is," quoth the good old man, looking 15 
round him with a smile, " very hard, that any part 
of my land should be settled upon one who has 
used me so ill as the perverse widow did; and yet 
I am sure I could not see a sprig of any bough of 
this whole walk of trees, but I should reflect upon 20 
her and her severity. She has certainly the finest 
hand of any woman in the world. You are to 
know, this was the place wherein I used to muse 



-84 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 12 

upon her; and by that custom I can never come into 
it, but the same tender sentiments revive in my 
mind, as if I had actually walked with that beautiful 
creature under these shades. I have been fool 

5 enough to carve her name on the bark of several 
of these trees; so unhappy is the condition of men 
in love, to attempt the removing of their passion 
by the methods which serve only to imprint it 
deeper. She has certainly the finest hand of any 

lo woman in the world." 

Here followed a profound silence; and I was not 
displeased to observe my friend falling so naturally 
into a discourse, which I had ever before taken 
notice he industriously avoided. — After a very long 

15 pause, he entered upon an account of this great 
circumstance in his life, with an air which I thought 
raised my idea of him above what I had ever had 
before; and gave me the picture of that cheerful 
mind of his, before it received that stroke which has 

20 ever since affected his words and actions. But he 
went on as follows. 

" I came to my estate in my twenty-second year, 
and resolved to follow the steps of the most worthy 
of my ancestors who have inhabited this spot of 

25 earth before me, in all the methods of hospitality 
and good neighborhood, for the sake of my fame; 
and in country sports and recreations, for the sake 
of my health. In my twenty-third year I was 
obliged to serve as sheriff of the county; and in my 



No. 12] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 85 

servants, officers, and whole equipage, indulged the 
pleasure of a young man (who did not think ill of 
his own person) in taking that public occasion of 
showing my figure and behavior to advantage. You 
may easily imagine to yourself what appearance I 5 
made, who am pretty tall, rid well, and was very 
well dressed, at the head of a whole county, with 
music before me, a feather in my hat, and my horse 
well bitted. I can assure you, I was not a little 
pleased with the kind looks and glances I had from lo 
all the balconies and windows as I rode to the hall 
where the assizes ^ were held. But when I came 
there, a beautiful creature, in a widow's habit, sat 
in court to hear the event of a cause concerning her 
dower. This commanding creature (who was born ^5 
for the destruction of all who behold her) put on 
such a resignation in her countenance, and bore the 
whispers of all around the court with such a pretty 
uneasiness, I warrant you, and then recovered her- 
self from one eye to another, until she was perfectly 20 
confused by meeting something so wistful in all she 
encountered, that at last, with a murrain to her,^ 
she cast her bewitching eye upon me. I no sooner 
met it but I bowed like a great surprised booby; 
and knowing her cause was to be the first which 25 
came on, I cried, like a great captivated calf as I 
was, 'Make way for the defendant's witnesses.' 
This sudden partiality made all the county imme- 
diately see the sheriff also was become a slave to 



86 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 12 

the fine widow. During the time her cause was 
upon trial, she behaved herself, I warrant you, with 
such a deep attention to her business, took oppor- 
tunities to have little billets handed to her counsel, 

5 then would be in such a pretty confusion, occa- 
sioned, you must know, by acting before so much 
company, that not only I but the whole court was 
prejudiced in her favor; and all that the next heir 
to her husband had to urge, was thought so ground- 

1° less and frivolous, that when it came to her counsel 
to reply, there w^as not half so much said as every 
one besides in the court thought he could have 
urged to her advantage. You must understand, 
sir, this perverse woman is one of those unaccount- 

15 able creatures that secretly rejoice in the admiration 
of men, but indulge themselves in no farther conse- 
quences. Hence it is that she has ever had a train 
of admirers, and she removes from her slaves in 
tow^n to those in the country, according to the 

2o seasons of the year. She is a reading lady, and far 
gone in the pleasures of friendship. She is always 
accompanied by a confidant, who is witness to her 
daily protestations against our sex, and consequently 
a bar to her first steps towards love, upon the 

25 strength of her own maxims and declarations. 

"However, I must needs say, this accomplished 
mistress of mine has distinguished me above the 
rest, and has been known to declare Sir Roger De 
Coverley was the tamest and most humane of all 



No. 12] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 87 

the brutes in the country. I was told she said so 
by one who thought he raUied me; but upon the 
strength of this slender encouragement of being 
thought least detestable, I made new liveries, new- 
paired my coach-horses, sent them all to town to 5 
be bitted, and taught to throw their legs well, and 
move altogether, before I pretended to cross the 
country, and wait upon her. As soon as I thought 
my retinue suitable to the character of my fortune 
and youth, I set out from hence to make my ad- lo 
dresses. The particular skill of this lady has ever 
been to inflame your wishes, and yet command 
respect. To make her mistress of this art, she has 
a greater share of knowledge, wit, and good sense, 
than is usual even among men of merit. Then she i5 
is beautiful beyond the race of women. If you will 
not let her go on with a certain artifice with her 
eyes, and the skill of beauty, she will arm herself 
with her real charms, and strike you with admira- 
tion instead of desire. It is certain that if you were 20 
to behold the whole woman, there is that dignity in 
her aspect, that composure in her motion, that 
complacency in her manner, that if her form makes 
you hope, her merit makes you fear. But then 
again, she is such a desperate scholar, that no 25 
country gentleman can approach her without being 
a jest. As I was going to tell you, when I came to 
her house, I was admitted to her presence with. 
great civility; at the same time she placed herself 



88 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 12 

to be first seen by me in such an attitude, as I think 
you call the posture of a picture, that she discovered 
new charms, and I at last came towards her with 
such an awe as made me speechless. This she no 

5 sooner observed but she made her advantage of it, 
and began a discourse to me concerning love and 
honor, as they both are followed by pretenders, and 
the real votaries to them. When she discussed 
these points in a discourse, which I verily believe 

lo was as learned as the best philosopher in Europe 
could possibly make, she asked me whether she was 
so happy as to fall in with my sentiments on these 
important particulars. Her confidant sat by her, 
and upon my being in the last confusion and silence, 

15 this malicious aid of her's turning to her, says, "I 
am very glad to observe Sir Roger pauses upon this 
subject, and seems resolved to deliver all his senti- 
ments upon the matter when he pleases to speak.' 
They both kept their countenances, and after I had 

20 sat half an hour meditating how to behave before 
such profound casuists, I rose up and took my 
leave. Chance has since that time thrown me very 
often in her way, and she as often directed a dis- 
course to me which I do not understand. This 

25 barbarity has kept me ever at a distance from the 
most beautiful object my eyes ever beheld. It is 
thus also she deals with all mankind, and you must 
make love to her, as you would conquer the sphinx,* 
by posing her. But were she like other women, and 



No. 12] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 89 

that there were any talking to her, how constant 
must the pleasure of that man be, who could con- 
verse with a creature — But, after all, you may be 
sure her heart is fixed on some one or other; and 
yet I have been credibly informed; but who can 5 
believe half that is said ! after she had done speaking 
to me, she put her hand to her bosom, and adjusted 
her tucker. Then she cast her eyes a little down, 
upon my beholding her too earnestly. They say 
she sings excellently: her voice in her ordinary 10 
speech has something in it inexpressibly sweet. You 
must know I dined with her at a public table the 
day after I first saw her, and she helped me to some 
tansy ^ in the eye of all the gentlemen in the country. 
She has certainly the finest hand of any woman in 15 
the world. I can assure you, sir, were you to behold 
her, you would be in the same condition; for as her 
speech is music, her form is angelic. But I find I 
grow irregular while I am talking of her; but indeed 
it would be stupidity to be unconcerned at such 20 
perfection. Oh, the excellent creature! she is as 
inimitable to all women, as she is inaccessible to all 
men." 

I found my friend begin to rave, and insensibly 
led him towards the house, that we might be joined 25 
by some other company; and am convinced that 
the widow is the secret cause of all that inconsistency 
which appears in some parts of my friend's discourse; 
though he has so much command of himself as not 



90 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 13 

directly to mention her, yet according to that of 
Martial,® which one knows not how to render in to 
English, Dum tacet hanc loquitur.'^ I shall end this 
paper with that whole epigram,^ which represents 
with much humor my honest friend's condition: 

Quicquid agit Rufus, nihil est, nisi Nsevia Rufo, 
Si gaudet, si flet, si tacet, hanc loquitur: 

Coenat, propinat, poscit, negat, annuit, una est 
Nsevia; si non sit Nsevia, mutus erit, 

Scriberit hesterna patri cum luce salutem, 
Nsevia lux, inquit, Nsevia numen, ave. 

Epig. 69. 1. i. 
"Let Rufus weep, rejoice, stand, sit, or walk, 

Still he can nothing but of Nsevia talk; 

Let him eat, drink, ask questions, or dispute, 

Still he must speak of Nsevia, or be mute. 

He writ to his father, ending with this line, 

I am, my lovely Nsevia, ever thine." 



No. 13. Economy 
Spectator No. 114. Wednesday, July 11, 1711 

Paupertatis pudor et f uga ^ 

Hor. Lib. 1. Ep. xviii. 24. 

Economy in our affairs has the same effect upon 
our fortunes which good breeding has upon our 
conversation. There is a pretending behavior in 
both cases, which instead of making men esteemed, 
[o renders them both miserable and contemptible. We 
had yesterday, at Sir Roger's, a set of country gen- 
tlemen who dined with him; and after dinner the 
glass was taken, by those who pleased, pretty plen- 



No. 13] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 91 

tifully. Among others I observed a person of a 
tolerable good aspect, who seemed to be more greedy 
of liquor than any of the company, and yet me- 
thought he did not taste it with delight. As he 
grew warm, he was suspicious of everything that 5 
was said, and as he advanced towards being fuddled, 
his humor grew worse. At the same time his bitter- 
ness seemed to be rather an inward dissatisfaction 
in his own mind, than any dislike he had taken to 
the company. Upon hearing his name, I knew him lo 
to be a gentleman of a considerable fortune in this 
county, but greatly in debt. What gives the un- 
happy man this peevishness of spirit is, that his 
estate is dipped ,^ and is eating out with usury; ^ and 
yet he has not the heart to sell any part of it. His is 
proud stomach,^ at the cost of restless nights, con- 
stant inquietudes, danger of affronts, and a thousand 
nameless inconveniences, preserves this canker in 
his fortune, rather than it shall be said he is a man 
of a fewer hundreds a year than he has been com- 20 
monly reputed. Thus he endures the torment of 
poverty, to avoid the name of being less rich. If 
you go to his house, you see great plenty; but served 
in a manner that shows it is all unnatural, and that 
the master's mind is not at home. There is a certain 25 
waste and carelessness in the air of everything, and 
the whole appears but a covered indigence, a mag- 
nificent poverty. That neatness and cheerfulness 
which attends the table of him who lives within 



92 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 13 

compass, is wanting, and exchanged for a libertine ^ 
way of service in all about him. 

This gentleman's conduct, though a very common 
way of management, is as ridiculous as that officer's 
5 would be, who had but few men under his command, 
and should take the charge of an extent of country 
rather than of a small pass. To pay for, personate, 
and keep in a man's hands, a greater estate than he 
really has, is of all others the most unpardonable 

lo vanity, and must in the end reduce the man who 
is guilty of it to dishonor. Yet if we look round us 
in any county of Great Britain, we shall see many 
in this fatal error; if that may be called by so soft 
a name, which proceeds from a false shame of 

15 appearing what they really are, when the contrary 
behavior would in a short time advance them to the 
condition which they pretend to. 

Laertes has fifteen hundred pounds a year, which 
is mortgaged for six thousand pounds; but it is 

20 impossible to convince him, that if he sold as much 
as would pay off that debt, he would save four 
shillings in the pound,^ which he gives for the 
vanity of being the reputed master of it. Yet if 
Laertes did this, he would perhaps be easier in 

25 his own fortune; but then Irus, a fellow of yes- 
terday, who has but twelve hundred a year, 
would be his equal. Rather than this shall be, 
Laertes goes on to bring well-born beggars into 
the world, and every twelvemonth charges his es- 



No. 13] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 93 

tate with at least one year's rent more by the birth 
of a child. 

Laertes and Irus are neighbors, whose way of living 
are an abomination to each other. Irus is moved by | ^ 
the fear of poverty, and Laertes by the shame of it. 5 
Though the motive of action is of so near affinity in 
both, and may be resolved into this, " that to each of 
them poverty is the greatest of all evils," yet are their 
manners very widely different. Shame or poverty 
makes Laertes launch into unnecessary equipage, 1° 
vain expense, and lavish entertainments. Fear of 
poverty makes Irus allow himself only plain neces- 
saries, appear without a servant, sell his own corn, 
attend his laborers, and be himself a laborer. 
Shame of poverty makes Laertes go every day a step ^5 
nearer to it: and fear of poverty stirs up Irus to 
make every day some further progress from it. 

These different motives produce the excesses 
which men are guilty of in the negligence of and 
provision for themselves. Usury, stock-jobbing, ex- 20 
tortion, and oppression, have their seed in the dread 
of want; and vanity, riot, and prodigality, from the 
shame of it: but both these excesses are infinitely 
below the pursuit of a reasonable creature. After 
we have taken care to command so much as is 25 
necessary for maintaining ourselves>in the/ order of 
men suitable to our character, the car^^of super- 
fluities is a vice no less extravagant, than the neglect 
of necessaries would have been before. 



94 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 13 

Certain it is, that they are both out of nature/ 
when she is followed with reason and good sense. 
It is from this reflection that I always read Mr. 
Cowley ^ with the greatest pleasure. His magna- 

5 nimity is as much above that of other considerable 
men, as his understanding; and it is a true distin- 
guishing spirit in the elegant author ^ who published 
his works, to dwell so much upon the temper of his 
mind and the moderation of his desires. By this 

lo means he rendered his friend as amiable as famous. 
That state of life which bears the face of poverty 
with Mr. Cowley's great vulgar,^^ is admirably de- 
scribed; and it is no small satisfaction to those of 
the same turn of desire, that he produces the 

15 authority of the wisest men of the best age of the 
world, to strengthen his opinion of the ordinary 
pursuits of mankind. 

It would methinks be no ill maxim of life, if, 
according to that ancestor of Sir Roger, whom I 

20 lately mentioned, every man would point to him- 
self what sum he would resolve not to exceed. He 

\y might by this means cheat himself i/ito a tranquility 

^ on this side of that expectation, or convert what he 

should get above it to nobler uses than his own 

25 pleasures or necessities. This temper of mind would 
exempt a man from an ignorant envy of restless 
men above him, and a more inexcusable contempt 
of happy men below him. This would be sailing 
by some compass, living with some design; but to 



No. 14] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 95 

be eternally bewildered in prospects of future gain, 
and putting on unnecessary armor against improb- 
able blows of fortune, is a mechanic being which 
has not good sense for its direction, but is carried 
on by a sort of acquired instinct towards things 5 
below our consideration, and unworthy our esteem. 
It is possible that the tranquility I now enjoy at 
Sir Roger's may have created in me this way of 
thinking, which is so abstracted from the common 
relish of the w^orld: but as I am now in a pleasing i° 
arbor, surrounded with a beautiful landscape, I find 
no inclination so strong as to continue in these 
mansions, so remote from the ostentatious scenes of 
life: and am at this present writing philosopher 
enough to conclude with Mr. Cowley, — ^^^AjJyijLJ^ 

If e'er ambition did my fancy cheat, 
With any wish so mean as to be great; 
Continue Heav'n, still from me to remove 
The humble blessings of that life I love. 

No. 14. Bodily Exercise 
Spectator No. 115. Thursday, July 12, 1711 

Ut sit mens sana in corpore sano.i 

Juv. Sat. X. 356. 

Bodily labor is of two kinds, either that which 
a man submits to for his livelihood, or that which 
he undergoes for his pleasure. The latter of them 
generally changes the name of labor for that of 



96 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 14 

exercise, but differs only from ordinary labor as it 
rises from another motive. 

A country life abounds in both these kinds of 
labor, and for that reason gives a man a greater 

5 stock of health, and consequently a more perfect 
enjoyment of himself, than any other way of life. 
I consider the body as a system of tubes and glands, 
or, to use a more rustic phrase, a bundle of pipes 
and strainers, fitted to one another after so wonder- 

lo ful a manner as to make a proper engine for the 
soul to work with. This description does not only 
comprehend the bowels, bones, tendons, veins, 
nerves, and arteries, but every muscle and every 
ligature, which is a composition of fibers, that are 

15 so many imperceptible tubes or pipes interwoven on 
all sides with invisible glands or strainers. 

This general idea of a human body, without con- 
sidering it in its niceties of anatomy, lets us see how 
absolutely necessary labor is for the right preserva- 

20 tion of it. There must be frequent motions and 
agitations, to mix, digest, and separate the juices 
contained in it, as well as to clear and cleanse that 
infinitude of pipes and strainers of which it is com- 
posed, and to give their solid parts a more firm and 

25 lasting tone. Labor or exercise ferments the hu- 
mors, casts them into their proper channels, throws 
off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret 
distributions, without which the body cannot subsist 
in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. 



No. 14] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 97 

I might here mention the effects which this has 
upon all the faculties of the mind, by keeping the 
understanding clear, the imagination untroubled, 
and refining those spirits that are necessary for the 
proper exertion of our intellectual faculties, during 5 
the present laws of union between soul and body. 
It is to a neglect in this particular that we must 
ascribe the spleen, which is so frequent in men of 
studious and sedentary tempers, as well as the 
vapors to which those of the other sex are so often lo 
subject. 

Had not exercise been absolutely necessary for 
our well-being, nature would not have made the 
body so proper for it, by giving such an activity to 
the limbs, and such a pliancy to every part as 15 
necessarily produce those compressions, extensions, 
contortions, dilatations, and all other kinds of 
motions that are necessary for the preservation of 
such a system of tubes and glands as has been before 
mentioned. And that we might not want induce- 20 
ments to engage us in such an exercise of the body 
as is proper for its welfare, it is so ordered that 
nothing valuable can be produced without it. Not 
to mention riches and honor, even food and raiment 
are not to be come at without the toil of the hands 25 
and sweat of the brows. Providence furnishes 
materials, but expects that we should work them 
up ourselves. The earth must be labored before it 
gives its increase, and when it is forced into its 



98 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 14 

several products, how many hands must they pass 
through before they are fit for use! Manufactures, 
trade, and agriculture, naturally employ more than 
nineteen parts of the species in twenty; and as for 

5 those who are not obliged to labor, by the condition 
in which they are born, they are more miserable 
than the rest of mankind, unless they indulge them- 
selves in that voluntary labor which goes by the 
name of exercise. 

lo My friend Sir Roger has been an indefatigable 
man in business of this kind, and has hung several 
parts of his house with the trophies of his former 
labors. The walls of his great hall are covered with 
the horns of several kinds of deer that he has killed 

15 in the chase, which he thinks the most valuable 
furniture of his house, as they afford him frequent 
topics of discourse, and show that he has not been 
idle. At the lower end of the hall is a large otter's 
skin stuffed with hay, which his mother ordered to 

20 be hung up in that manner, and the knight looks 
upon with great satisfaction, because it seems he 
was but nine years old when his dog killed him. 
A little room adjoining to the hall is a kind of 
arsenal filled with guns of several sizes and inven- 

25 tions, with which the knight has made great havoc 
in the woods, and destroyed many thousands of 
pheasants, partridges, and woodcocks. His stable- 
doors are patched with noses that belonged to foxes 
of the knight's own hunting down. Sir Roger 



No. 14] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 99 

showed me one of them that for distinction sake 
has a brass nail struck through it, which cost him 
about fifteen hours' riding, carried him through half 
a dozen counties, killed him a brace of geldings, 
and lost above half his dogs. This the knight looks 5 
upon as one of the greatest exploits of his life. 
The perverse widow, whom I have given some ac- 
count of, was the death of several foxes; for Sir 
Roger has told me that in the course of his amours 
he patched the western door of his stable. When- lo 
ever the widow was cruel, the foxes were sure to 
pay for it. In proportion as his passion for the 
widow abated, and old age came on, he left off 
fox-hunting; but a hare is not yet safe that sits 
within ten miles of his house. i5 

There is no kind of exercise which I would so 
recommend to my readers of both sexes as this of 
riding, as there is none which so much conduces to 
health, and is every way accommodated to the 
body, according to the idea which I have given of it. 20 
Doctor Sydenham ^ is very lavish in its praises; and 
if the English reader will see the mechanical effects 
of it described at length, he may find them in a 
book published not many years since under the 
title of Medicina Gymnastica.^ For my own part, 25 
when I am in town, for want of these opportunities, 
I exercise myself an hour every morning upon a 
dumb-bell that is placed in a corner of my room, 
and it pleases me the more because it does every- 



100 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 14 

thing I require of it in the most profound silence. 
My landlady and her daughters are so well ac- 
quainted with my hours of exercise, that they never 
come into my room to disturb me whilst I am 

5 ringing. 

When I was some years younger than I am at 
present, I used to employ myself in a more laborious 
diversion, which I learned from a Latin treatise of 
exercises that is written with a great deal of erudi- 

1° tion ^: it is there called the ffKio/xaxia, or the fighting 
with a man's own shadow, and consists in the 
brandishing of two short sticks grasped in each 
hand, and loaded with plugs of lead at either end. 
This opens the chest, exercises the limbs, and gives 

15 a man all the pleasure of boxing, without the blows. 
I could wish that several learned men would lay 
out that time which they employ in controversies 
and disputes about nothing, in this method of 
fighting with their own shadows. It might conduce 

20 very much to evaporate the spleen, which makes 

them uneasy to the public as well as to themselves. 

To conclude, — As I am a compound of soul and 

body, I consider myself as obliged to a double 

scheme of duties; and think I have not fulfilled the 

25 business of the day when I do not thus employ the 
one in labor and exercise, as well as the other in 
study and contemplation. dO^^"^^ 



No. 15] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 101 

No. 15. Sir Roger Hunting^ 
Spectator No. 116. Friday, July 13, 1711 
-Vocat ingenti clamore Cithaeron, 



Taygetique canes 

Virg. Georg. iii. 43. 

Those who have searched into human nature 
observe, that nothing so much shows the nobleness 
of the soul, as that its felicity consists in action. 
Every man has such an active principle in him, 
that he will find out something to employ himself s 
upon, in whatever place or state of life he is posted. 
I have heard of a gentleman who was under close 
confinement in the Bastile ^ seven years; during 
which time he amused himself in scattering a few 
small pins about his chamber, gathering them up lo 
again, and placing them in different figures on the 
arm of a great chair. He often told his friends 
afterwards, that unless he had found out this piece 
of exercise, he verily believed he should have lost 
his senses. 15 

After what has been said, I need not inform my 
readers, that Sir Roger, with whose character I 
hope they are at present pretty well acquainted, 
has in his youth gone through the whole course of 
those rural diversions which the country abounds 20 
in; and which seem to be extremely well suited to 
that laborious industry a man may observe here in 



102 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 15 

a far greater degree than in towns and cities. I 

• have before hinted at some of my friend's. exploits: 

he has in his youthful days taken forty coveys of 

partridges in a season; and tired many a salmon 

5 with a line consisting but of a single hair. The 
constant thanks and good wishes of the neighbor- 
hood always attended him, on account of his re- 
markable enmity towards foxes; having destroyed 
more of those vermin in one year, than it was 

lo thought the whole country could have produced. 
Indeed the knight does not scruple to own among 
his most intimate friends, that in order to establish 
his reputation this way, he has secretly sent for 
great numbers of them out of other counties, which 

15 he used to turn loose about the country by night, 
that he might the better signalize himself in their 
destruction the next day. His hunting horses were 
the finest and best managed in all these parts. His 
tenants are still full of the praises of a gray stone- 

20 horse ^ that unhappily staked himself several years 
since, and was buried with great solemnity in the 
orchard. 

Sir Roger, being at present too old for fox-hunting, 
to keep himself in action, has disposed of his beagles 

25 and got a pack of stop-hounds.^ What these want 
in speed, he endeavors to make amends for by the 
deepness of their mouths and the variety of their 
notes, which are suited in such manner to each 
other, that the whole cry makes up a complete 



No. 15] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 103 

concert.^ He is so nice in this particular, that a 
gentleman having made him a present of a very- 
fine hound the other day, the knight returned it by 
the servant with a great many expressions of civility; 
but desired him to tell his master, that the dog he 5 
had sent was indeed a most excellent bass, but that 
at present he only wanted a c^Jtiiit^r-tenor. ^ Could 
I believe my friend had ever read Shakspere, I 
should certainly conclude he had taken the hint 
from Theseus in the Midsummer Night's Dream: i° 

L^ j^ *" "My hounds are bred out of the Spartan kind, ' 
\/^f\ So flew 'd, 8 so sanded ;9 and their heads are hung ^'%^i^ ^• 
^y^ I With ears that sweep away the morning dew. 
fk V Crook-knee 'd and dew-lapp'd^o Hke ThessaHan bulls, 

/ V Slow in pursuit, but match'd in mouths like bells, 
v^ Each under each. A cry more tunable 

Was never halloo 'd to, nor cheer'd with horn."ii 

Sir Roger is so keen at this sport, that he has 
been out almost every day since I came down; and 
upon the chaplain's offering to lend me his easy 
pad, I was prevailed on yesterday morning to make 
one of the company. I was extremely pleased, as 15 
we rid along, to observe the general benevolence of 
all the neighborhood towards my friend.^ The 
farmer's sons thought themselves happy if they 
could open a gate for the good old knight as he 
passed by; which he generally requited with a nod 20 
or a smile, and a kind inquiry after their fathers or 
uncles. 

After we had rid about a mile from home, we 



104 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 15 

came upon a large heath, and the sportsmen began 
to beat. They had done so for some time, when, 
as I was at a Httle distance from the rest of the 
company, I saw a hare pop out from a small furze- 

5 brake almost under my horse's feet. I marked the 
way she took, which I endeavored to make the 
company sensible of by extending my arm; but to 
no purpose, till Sir Roger, who knows that none of 
my extraordinary motions are insignificant, rode up 

lo to me, and asked me if puss was gone that way? 
Upon my answering yes, he immediately called in 
the dogs, and put them upon the scent. As they 
were going off, I heard one of the country-fellows 
muttering to his companion, "That 'twas a wonder 

15 they had not lost all their sport, for want of the 
silent gentleman's crying, Stole away." 

This, with my aversion to leaping hedges, made 
me withdraw to a rising ground, from whence I 
could have the pleasure of the whole chase, without 

20 the fatigue of keeping in with the hounds. The 
hare immediately threw them above a mile behind 
her; but I was pleased to find, that instead of 
running straight forwards, or in hunter's language, 
" flying the country," as I was afraid she might have 

25 done, she wheeled about, and described a sort of 
circle round the hill where I had taken my station, 
in such a manner as gave me a very distinct view 
of the sport. I could see her first pass by, and the 
dogs some time afterwards unraveling the whole 



No. 15] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 105 

track she had made, and following her through all 
her doubles. I was at the same time delighted in 
observing that deference which the rest of the pack 
paid to each particular hound, according to the 
character he had acquired among them. If they 5 
were at a fault, and an old hound of reputation 
opened but once, he was immediately followed by 
the whole cry; while a raw dog, or one w^ho was a 
noted liar, might have yelped his heart out, without 
being taken notice of. lo 

The hare now, after having squatted two or three 
times, and been put up again as often, came still 
nearer to the place where she was at first started. 
The dogs pursued her, and these were followed by 
the jolly knight, who rode upon a white gelding, ^5 
encompassed by his tenants and servants, and 
cheering his hounds with all the gayety of five-and- 
twenty. One of the sportsmen rode up to me, and 
told me, that he was sure the chase was almost at 
an end, because the old dogs, which had hitherto 20 
lain behind, now headed the pack. The fellow was 
in the right. Our hare took a large field just under 
us, followed by the full cry in view. I must confess 
the brightness of the weather, the cheerfulness of 
everything around me, the chiding of the hounds, 25 
which was returned upon us in a double echo from 
two neighboring hills, with the hallooing of the 
sportsmen, and the sounding of the horn, lifted my 
spirits into a most lively pleasure, which I freely 



106 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 15 

indulged because I was sure it was innocent. If I 
was under any concern, it was on the account of 
the poor hare, that was now quite spent, and almost 
within the reach of her enemies; when the huntsmen 

5 getting forward, threw down his pole ^^ before the 
dogs. They were now within eight yards of that 
game which they had been pursuing for almost as 
many hours; yet on the signal before mentioned 
they all made a sudden stand, and though they 

lo continued opening as much as before, durst not once 
attempt to pass beyond the pole. At the same 
time Sir Roger rode forward, and alighting, took up 
the hare in his arms; which he soon after delivered 
up to one of his servants with an order, if she could 

15 be kept alive, to let her go in his great orchard; 
where it seems he has several of these prisoners of 
war, who live together in a very comfortable cap- 
tivity. I was highly pleased to see the discipline 
of the pack, and the good-nature of the knight, 

20 who could not find in his heart to murder a creature 
that had given him so much diversion. 

As we were returning home, I remembered that 
Monsieur Paschal, ^^ in his most excellent discourse 
on the Misery of Man, tells us, that all our endeavors 

25 after greatness proceed from nothing but a desire 
of being surrounded by a multitude of persons and 
affairs that may hinder us from looking into our- 
selves, which is a view we cannot bear. He after- 
wards goes on to show that our love of sports comes 



No. 15] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 107 

from the same reason, and is particularly severe 
upon hunting. "What/' says he, "unless it be to 
drown thought, can make them throw away so 
much time and pains upon a silly animal, which 
they might buy cheaper in the market?" The 5 
foregoing reflection is certainly just, when a man 
suffers his whole mind to be drawn into his sports, 
and altogether loses himself in the woods; but does 
not affect those who propose a far more laudable 
end from this exercise, I mean the preservation of i° 
health, and keeping all the organs of the soul in a 
condition to execute her orders. Had that incom- 
parable person, whom I last quoted, been a little 
more indulgent to himself in this point, the world 
might probably have enjoyed him much longer; ^5 
whereas through too great an application to his 
studies in his youth, he contracted that ill habit of 
body, which, after a tedious sickness, carried him 
off in the fortieth year of his age; and the whole 
history we have of his life till that time, is but one ^o 
continued account of the behavior of a noble soul 
struggling under innumerable pains and distempers. 

For my own part, I intend to hunt twice a week 
during my stay with Sir Roger; and shall prescribe 
the moderate use of this exercise to all my country 25 
friends, as the best kind of physic for mending a 
bad constitution, and preserving a good one. 

I cannot do this better, than in the following 
lines ^* out of Mr. Dryden : 



108 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 16 

''The first physicians by debauch were made; 
Excess began, and Sloth sustains the trade. . \ 

By chase our long-hv'd fathers earn'd their food; ^ A^ 
Toil strung the nerves, and purify 'd the blood; , ^ 

But we their sons, a pamper'd race of men, t\ W v aJ 



Are dwindled down to threescore years and ten 
Better to hunt in fields for health unbought, ^ 
Than fee the doctor for a nauseous draught, V 
The wise for cure on exercise depend; t 

God never made his work for man to mend,'''«i-"' 



No. 16. On Witchcraft 




^ 



>^^ 



Spectator No. 117. Saturday, July 14, 1711 

Ipsi sibi somnia fingunt. 

Virg. Eel. viii. IO8.1 

There are some opinions in which a man should 
stand neuter, without engaging his sfssent to one 
side or the other. Such a hovering faith as this, 
which refuses to settle upon any determination, is 
absolutely necessary in a mind that is careful to 
avoid errors and ^rgjiasSfiSSiii^s. When the argu- 
ments press equally on both sides in matters that 
are indifferent to us, the safest method is to give 
up ourselves to neither. 

It is with this temper of mind that I consider the 
subject of witchcraft. When I hear the relations 
that are made from all parts of the world, not only 
from Norway and Lapland, from the East and West 
Indies, but from every particular nation in Europe, 
I cannot forbear thinking that there is such an 



No. 16] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 109 

intercourse and commerce with evil spirit s, as that 
which we expres s by the name of witchcraft. But 
when I consider that the ignorant and credulous 
parts of the world abound most in these relations, 
and that the persons among us, who are supposed 5 
to engage in such an infernal commerce, are people 
of a weak understanding and crazed imagination, 
and at the same time reflect upon the many impos- 
tures and delusions of this nature that have been 
detected in all ages, I endeavor to suspend my 1° 
belief till I hear more certain accounts than any 
which have yet come to my knowledge. In short, 
when I consider the question, whether there are 
such persons in the world as those we call witches, 
my mind is divided between the two opposite ^5 
opinions, or rather (to speak my thoughts freely) 
I believe in general that there is, and has been such 
a thing as witchcraft; but at the same time can 
give no credit to any particular instance of it. 

I am engaged in this speculation, by some occur- 20 
rences that I met with yesterday, which I shall 
give my reader an account of at large. As I was 
walking with my friend Sir Roger by the side of 
one of his woods, an old woman applied herself to 
me for my charity. Her dress and figure put me in 25 
mind of the following description in Otway: 

"In a close lane as I pursu'd my journey, 
I spy'd a wrinkled hag, with age grown double, 
Picking dry sticks, and mumbling to herself. 



110 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 16 

Her eyes with scalding rh^um were gall'd and red; 
Cold palsy shook her head; her hands seem'd withered; 
And on her crooked shoulders had she wrapt 
The tatter'd remnant of an old striped hanging, 
Which served to keep her carcase from the cold 
So there was nothing of a piece about her. 
Her lower weeds were all o'er coarsely patch 'd 
With different colour'd rags, black, red, white, yellow, 
And seem'd to speak variety of wretchedness." ^ 

As I was musing on this description, and com- 
paring it with the object before me, the knight told 
me, that this very old woman had the reputation 
of a witch all over the country, that her lips were 

5 observed to be always in motion, and that there 
was not a switch about her house which her neigh- 
bors did not believe had carried her several hundreds 
of miles. If she chanced to stumble, they always 
found sticks or straws that lay in the figure of a 

lo cross before her. If she made any mistake at 
church, and cried Amen in a wrong place, they 
never failed to conclude that she was saying her 
prayers backwards. There was not a maid in the 
parish that would take a pin of her, though she 

15 should offer a bag of money with it. She goes by 
the name of Moll White, and has made the country 
ring with several imaginary exploits which are 
palmed upon her. If the dairy-maid does not make 
her butter come so soon as she would have it, 

20 Moll White is at the bottom of the churn. If a 
horse sweats in the stable, Moll White has been 
upon his back. If a hare makes an unexpected 



No. 16] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 111 

escape from the hounds, the huntsman curses Moll 
White. '' Nay," says Sir Roger, " I have known the 
master of the pack, upon such an occasion, send one 
of his servants to see if Moll White had been out 
that morning." 5 

This account raised my curiosity so far that I 
begged my friend Sir Roger to go with me into her 
hovel, which stood in a solitary corner under the 
side of the wood. Upon our first entering. Sir Roger 
winked to me, and pointed at something that stood ^° 
behind the door, which upon looking that way, I 
found to be an old broom-staff. At the same time 
he whispered me in the ear to take notice of a tabby 
cat that sate in the chimney corner, which, as the 
old knight told me, lay under as bad a report as iS 
Moll White herself; for besides that Moll is said 
often to accompany her in the same shape, the cat 
is reported to have spoken twice or thrice in her 
life, and to have played several pranks above the 
capacity of an ordinary cat. 20 

I was secretly concerned to see human nature in 
so much wretchedness and disgrace, but at the same 
time could not forbear smiling to hear Sir Roger, 
who is a little puzzled about the old woman, advising 
her as a justice of peace to avoid all communication 25 
with the devil, and never to hurt any of her neigh- 
bors' cattle. We concluded our visit with a bounty, 
which was very acceptable. 

In our return home Sir Roger told me, that old 



112 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 16 

Moll had been often brought before him for making 
children spit pins, and giving maids the nightmare; 
and that the country people would be tossing her 
into a pond and trying experiments with her every 

5 day, if it was not for him and his chaplain. 

I have since found upon inquiry, that Sir Roger 
was several times staggered with the reports that 
had been brought him concerning this old woman, 
and would frequently have bound her over to the 

1° country sessions, had not his chaplain with much 
ado persuaded him to the contrary. 

I have been the more particular in this account, 
because I hear there is scarce a village in England 
that has not a Moll White in it. When an old 

15 woman begins to doat, and grow chargeable to a 
parish, she is generally turned into a witch, and 
fills the whole country with extravagant fancies, 
imaginary distempers, and terrifying dreams. In 
the meantime, the poor wretch that is the innocent 

20 occasion of so many evils, begins to be frighted at 
herself, and sometimes confesses secret commerces 
and familiarities that her imagination forms in a 
delirious old age. This frequently cuts off charity 
from the greatest objects of compassion, and inspires 

25 people with a malevolence towards those poor de- 
crepit parts of our species in whom human nature 
is defaced by infirmity and dotage. 



No. 17] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 113 



No. 17. Sir Roger in Love 

Spectator N«. 118. Monday, July 16, 1711 

Haeret lateri lethalis arundo.^ 

Virg. JEn. iv. 73. 




This agreeable seat is surrounded with so many 
pleasing walks, which are struck out of a wood, in 
the midst of which the house stands, that one can 
hardly ever be weary of rambling from one labyrinth 
of delight to another. To one used to live in a city 5 
the charms of the country are so exquisite, that the 
mind is lost in a certain transport which raises us 
above ordinary life, and yet is not strong enough to 
be inconsistent with tranquility. This state of 
mind was I in, ravished with the murmur of waters, 10 
the whisper of breezes, the singing of birds; and 
whether I looked up to the heavens, down on the 
earth, or turned to the prospects around me, still 
struck with new sense of pleasure; when I found by 
the voice of my friend, who walked by me, that we 15 
had insensibly strolled into the grove sacred to the 
widow. "This woman," says he, "is of all others 
the most unintelligible ; she either designs to marry, 
or she does not. What is the most perplexing of 
all is, that she does not either say to her lovers she 20 
has any resolution against that condition of life in 
general, or that she banishes them; but, conscious 
of her own merit, she permits their addresses, with- 



114 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 17 

out fear of any ill consequence, or want of respect, 
from their rage or despair. She has that in her 
aspect, against which it is impossible to offend. 
A man whose thoughts are constantly bent upon 

5 so agreeable an object, must be excused if the 
ordinary occurrences in conversation are below his 
attention. I call her indeed perverse, but alas! 
why do I call her so? Because her superior merit 
is such, that I cannot approach her without awe, 

lo that my heart is checked by too much esteem: I 
am angry that her charms are not more accessible, 
that I am more inclined to worship than salute ^ 
her. How often have I wished her unhappy, that 
I might have an opportunity of serving her? and 

15 how often troubled in that very imagination, at 
giving her the pain of being obliged? Well, I have 
led a miserable life in secret upon her account; but 
fancy she would have condescended to have some 
regard for me, if it had not been for that watchful 

20 animal her confidant. 

"Of all persons under the sun" (continued he, 
calling me by name), "be sure to set a mark upon 
confidants: they are of all people the most imperti- 
nent. What is most pleasant to observe in them, is, 

25 that they assume to themselves the merit of the 
persons whom they have in their custody. Orestilla 
is a great fortune, and in wonderful danger of 
surprises, therefore full of suspicions of the least 
indifferent thing, particularly careful of new ac- 



No. 17] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 115 

quaintance, and of growing too familiar with the 
old. Themista, her favorite woman, is every whit 
as careful of whom she speaks to, and what she 
says. Let the ward be a beauty, her confidant 
shall treat you with an air of distance; let her be 5 
a fortune, and she assumes the suspicious behavior 
of her friend and patroness. Thus it is that very 
many of our unmarried women of distinction are to 
all intents and purposes married, except the con- 
sideration of different sexes. They are directly lo 
under the conduct of their whisperer; ^ and think 
they are in a state of freedom, while they can prate 
with one of these attendants of all men in general, 
and still avoid the man they most like. You do 
not see one heiress in a hundred whose fate does ^5 
not turn upon this circumstance of choosing a con- 
fidant. Thus it is that the lady is addressed to, 
presented ^ and flattered, only by proxy, in her 

woman. In my case, how is it possible that 

Sir Roger was proceeding in his harangue, when 20 
we heard the voice of one speaking very importu- 
nately, and repeating these words, "What, not one 
smile?" We followed the sound till we came close 
to a thicket, on the other side of which we saw a 
young woman sitting as it were in a personated 25 
sullenness just over a transparent fountain. Oppo- 
site to her stood Mr. William, Sir Roger's master 
of the game. The knight whispered me, " Hist, 
these are lovers."" The huntsman looking earnestly 



116 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 17 

at the shadow of the young maiden in the stream, 
" Oh thou dear picture, if thou couldst remain there 
in the absence of that fair creature whom you 
represent in the water, how wilUngly could I stand 

5 here satisfied forever, without troubling my dear 
Betty herself with any mention of her unfortunate 
William, whom she is angry with! But alas! when 

she pleases to be gone, thou wilt also vanish 

Yet let me talk to thee while thou dost stay. Tell 

lo my dearest Betty thou dost not more depend upon 
her, than does her William: her absence will make 
away with me as well as thee. If she offers to 
remove thee, I will jump into these waves to lay 
hold on thee; herself, her own dear person, I must 

15 never embrace again. — Still do you hear me with- 
out one smile — It is too much to bear." — He had 
no sooner spoke these words, but he made an offer 
of throwing himself into the water: at which his 
mistress started up, and at the next instant he 

20 jumped across the fountain, and met her in an 
embrace. She, half recovering from her fright, said 
in the most charming voice imaginable, and with a 
tone of complaint, "I thought how well you would 
drown yourself. No, no, you will not drown your- 

25 self till you have taken your leave of Susan Holiday." 
The huntsman, with a tenderness that spoke the 
most passionate love, and with his cheek close to 
hers, whispered the softest vows of fidelity in her 
ear, and cried, "Do not, my dear, believe a word 



No. 17] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 117 

Kate Willow says; she is spiteful, and makes stories, 
because she loves to hear me talk to herself for your 
sake." — "Look you there," quoth Sir Roger, "do 
you see there, all mischief comes from confidants! 
But let us not interrupt them; the maid is honest, 5 
and the man dares not be otherwise, for he knows 
I loved her father: I will interpose in this matter, 
and hasten the wedding. Kate Willow is a witty 
mischievous wench in the neighborhood, who was 
a beauty; and makes me hope I shall see the per- lo 
verse widow in her condition. She was so flippant 
with her answers to all the honest fellows that 
came near her, and so very vain of her beauty, 
that she has valued herself upon her charms till 
they are ceased. She therefore now makes it her i5 
business to prevent other young women from being 
more discreet than she was herself: however, the 
saucy thing said, the other day, well enough, 'Sir 
Roger and I must make a match, for we are both 
despised by those we loved.' The hussy has a great 20 
deal of power wherever she comes, and has her share 
of cunning. 

" However, when I reflect upon this woman, I do 
not know whether in the main I am the worse for 
having loved her; whenever she is recalled to my 25 
imagination my youth returns, and I feel a for- 
gotten warmth in my veins. This affliction in my 
life has streaked all my conduct with a softness, of 
which I should otherwise have been incapable. It 



118 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 17 

is owing, perhaps, to this dear image in my heart 
that I am apt to relent, that I easily forgive, and 
that many desirable things are grown into my 
temper, which I should not have arrived at by 

5 better motives than the thought of being one day 
hers. I am pretty well satisfied such a passion as I 
have had is never well cured ; and between you and 
me, I am often apt to imagine it has had some 
whimsical effect upon my brain: for I frequently 

lo find, that in my most serious discourse I let fall 
some comical familiarity of speech or odd phrase 
that makes the company laugh. However, I cannot 
but allow she is a most excellent woman. When 
she is in the country, I warrant she does not run 

15 into dairies, but reads upon the nature of plants: 
she has a glass beehive, and comes into the garden 
out of books to see them work, and observe the 
policies of their commonwealth. She understands 
everything. I would give ten pounds to hear her 

20 argue with my friend Sir Andrew Freeport about 
trade. No, no, for all she looks so innocent as it 
were, take my word for it she is no fool." 



No. 18] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 119 

No. 18. Town and Country Manners 

Spectator No. 119. Tuesday, July 17, 1711 

Urbem quam dicunt Romam, Meliboee, putavi 

Stultus ego huic nostrse similem 1 

Virg. Eel. i. 20. 

The first and most obvious reflections which arise 
in a man who changes the city for the country, are 
upon the different manners of the people whom he 
meets with in those two different scenes of life.^ 
By manners I do not mean morals, but behavior 5 
and good-breeding, as they show themselves in the 
town and in the country. 

And here, in the first place, I must observe a very 
great revolution that has happened in this article 
of good-breeding. Several obliging deferences, con- 10 
descensions, and submissions, with many outward 
forms and ceremonies that accompany them, were 
first of all brought up among the politer part of 
mankind, who lived in courts and cities, and dis- 
tinguished themselves from the rustic part of the 15 
species (who on all occasions acted bluntly and 
naturally) by such a mutual complaisance and inter- 
course of civilities. These forms of conversation 
by degrees multiplied and grew troublesome; the 
modish world found too great a constraint in them, 20 
and have therefore thrown most of them aside. 
Conversation, like the Romish religion, was so en- 



120 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 18 

cumbered with show and ceremony, that it stood 
in need of a reformation to retrench its superfluities, 
and restore it to its natural good sense and beauty. 
At present therefore an unconstrained carriage, and 

5 a certain openness of behavior, are the height of 
good-breeding. The fashionable world is grown free 
and easy; our manners sit more loose upon us. 
Nothing is so modish as an agreeable negligence. 
In a word, good-breeding shows itself most, where 

lo to an ordinary eye it appears the least. 

If after this we look on the people of mode in the 
country, we find in them the manners of the last 
age. They have no sooner fetched themselves up 
to the fashions of the polite world, but the town 

15 has dropped them, and are nearer to the first state 
of nature than to those refinements which formerly 
reigned in the court, and still prevail in the country. 
One may now know a man that never conversed in 
the world, by his excess of good-breeding. A polite 

20 country 'squire shall make you as many bows in 

half an hour, as would serve a courtier for a week. 

^ There is infinitely more to do about place and 

'/^ precedency in a meeting of justices' wives, than in an 

assembly of duchesses. 

25 This rural politeness is very troublesome to a man 
of my temper, who generally take the chair that is 
next me, and walk first or last, in the front or in 
the rear, as chance directs. I have known my 
friend Sir Roger's dinner almost cold before the 



No. 18] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 121 

company could adjust the ceremonial, and be pre- 
vailed upon to sit down; and have heartily pitied 
my old friend, when I have seen him forced to pick 
and cull his guests, as they sat at the several parts 
of his table, that he might drink their healths 5 
according to their respective ranks and qualities. 
Honest Will Wimble, who I should have thought 
had been altogether uninfected with ceremony, 
gives me abundance of trouble in this particular. 
Though he has been fishing all the morning, he will lo 
not help himself at dinner until I am served. When 
we are going out of the hall, he runs behind me; and 
last night, as we were walking in the fields, stopped 
short at a stile until I came up to it, and upon my 
making signs to him to get over, told me with a iS 
serious smile, that sure I believed they had no 
manners in the country. 

There has happened another revolution in the 
point of good-breeding, which relates to the con- 
versation among men of mode, and which I cannot 20 
but look upon as very extraordinary. It was cer- 
tainly one of the first distinctions of a well-bred 
man to express everything that had the most remote 
appearance of being obscene, in modest terms and 
distant phrases; whilst the clown, who had no such 25 
delicacy of conception and expression, clothed his 
ideas in those plain homely terms that are the most 
obvious and natural. This kind of good manners 
was perhaps carried to an excess, so as to make 



122 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 18 

conversation too stiff, formal, and precise: for which 
reason (as hypocrisy in one age is generally succeeded 
by atheism in another) conversation is in a great 
measure relapsed into the first extreme; so that at 

5 present several of our men of the town, and particu- 
larly those who have been polished in France, make 
use of the most coarse uncivilized words in our 
language, and utter themselves often in such a 
manner as a clown would blush to hear. 

lo This infamous piece of good-breeding, which 
reigns among the coxcombs of the town, has not 
yet made its way into the country; and as it is 
impossible for such an irrational way of conversation 
to last long among a people that make any pro- 

15 fession of religion, or show of modesty, if the country 
gentlemen get into it, they will certainly be left in 
the lurch. Their good-breeding will come too late 
to them, and they will be thought a parcel of iewd 
clowns, while they fancy themselves talking together 

20 like men of wit and pleasure. 

As the two points of good breeding, which I have 
hitherto insisted upon, regard behavior and con- 
versation, there is a third which turns upon dress. 
In this too the country are very much behind-hand. 

25 The rural beaus are not yet got out of the fashion 
that took place at the time of the revolution, but 
ride about the country in red coats and laced ^ hats, 
while the women in many parts are still trying to out- 
vie one another in the height of their headdresses. 



No. 19] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 123 

But a friend of mine, who is now upon the western 
circuit/ having promised to give me an account of 
the several modes and fashions that prevail in the 
different parts of the nation through which he passes, 
I shall defer the enlarging upon this last topic till 5 
I have received a letter from him, which I expect 
every post. - ' ■- 

No. 19. Sir Roger's Poultry 
Spectator No. 120. Wednesday, July 18, 1711 
Equidem credo, quia sit divinitus illis 



Ingenium 

Virg. Georg. i. 451. 

My friend Sir Roger is very often merry with me 
upon my passing so much of my time among his 
poultry. He has caught me twice or thrice looking lo 
after a bird's-nest, and several times sitting an hour 
or two together near a hen and chickens. He tells 
me he believes I am personally acquainted with 
every fowl about his house; calls such a particular 
cock my favorite; and frequently complains that his 15 
ducks and geese have more of my company than 
himself. 

I must confess I am infinitely delighted with 
those speculations of nature which are to be made 
in a country life ; and as my 'reading has very much 20 
lain among books of natural history, I cannot forbear 
recollecting upon this occasion the several remarks 



124 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 19 

which I have met with in authors, and comparing 
them with what falls under my own observation: 
the arguments for Providence drawn from the 
natural history of animals being in my opinion 

5 demonstrative. 

The make of every kind of animal is different 
from that of every other kind; and yet there is not 
the least turn in the muscles or twist on the fibers 
of any one, which does not render them more proper 

lo for that particular animal's way of life than any 
other cast or texture of them would have been. 

The most violent appetites in all creatures are 
lust and hunger. The first is a perpetual call upon 
them to propagate their kind; the latter to preserve 

15 themselves. 

It is astonishing to consider the different degrees 
of care that descend from the parent to the young, 
so far as is absolutely necessary for the leaving a 
posterity. Some creatures cast their eggs as chance 

20 directs them, and think of them no farther; as 
insects and several kinds of fish. Others, of a nicer 
frame,^ find out proper beds to deposit them in 
and there leave them; as the serpent, the crocodile, 
and ostrich: others hatch their eggs and tend the 

25 birth, until it is able to shift for itself. 

What can we call the principle which directs 
every different kind of bird to observe a particular 
plan in the structure of its nest, and directs all the 
same species to work after the same model? It 



No. 19] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 125 

cannot be imitation; for though you hatch a crow 
under a hen, and never let it see any of the works 
of its own kind, the nest it makes shall be the same, 
to the laying of a stick, with all the other nests of 
the same species. It cannot be reason; for were 5 
animals endowed with it to as great a degree as 
man, their buildings would be as different as ours, 
according to the different conveniences that they 
would propose to themselves. 

Is it not remarkable that the same temper of lo 
weather, which raises this genial warmth in animals, 
should cover the trees with leaves, and the fields 
with grass, for their security and concealment, and 
produce such infinite swarms of insects for the sup- 
port and sustenance of their respective broods? ^5 

Is it not wonderful that the love of the parent 
should be so violent while it lasts, and that it should 
last no longer than is necessary for the preservation 
of the young? 

The violence of this natural love is exemplified 20 
by a very barbarous experiment; which I shall 
quote at length, as I find it in an excellent author, 
and hope my readers will pardon the mentioning 
such an instance of cruelty, because there is nothing 
can so effectually show the strength of that principle 25 
in animals of which I am here speaking. " A person 
who was well skilled in dissections opened a bitch, 
and as she lay in the most exquisite tortures, offered 
her one of her young puppies, which she imme- 



126 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 19 

diately fell a licking; and for the time seemed insen- 
sible of her own pain. On the removal, she kept 
her eyes fixed on it, and began a wailing sort of 
cry, which seemed rather to proceed from the loss 

5 of her young one, than the sense of her own tor- 
ments." 

But notwithstanding this natural love in brutes 
is much more violent and intense than in rational 

. creatures. Providence has taken care that it should 

lo be no longer troublesome to the parent than it is 
useful to the young; for so soon as the wants of the 
latter cease, the mother withdraws her fondness, 
and leaves them to provide for themselves; and 
what is a very remarkable circumstance in this part 

15 of instinct, we find that the love of the parent may 
be lengthened out beyond its usual time, if the 
preservation of the species requires it: as we may 
see in birds that drive away their young as soon as 
they are able to get their livelihood, but continue 

20 to feed them if they are tied to the nest, or confined 
within a cage, or by any other means appear to be 
out of a condition of supplying their own neces- 
sities. 

This natural love is not observed in animals to 

25 ascend from the young to the parent, which is not 
at all necessary for the continuance of the species: 
nor indeed in reasonable creatures does it rise in 
any proportion, as it spreads itself downward; for 
in all family affection, we find protection granted 



No. 19] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 127 

and favors bestowed, are greater motives to love 
and tenderness, than safety, benefits, or life received. 

One would wonder to hear sceptical men disputing 
for the reason of animals, and telling us it is only 
our pride and prejudices that will not allow them 5 
the use of that faculty. 

Reason shows itself in all occurrences of life; 
whereas the brute makes no discovery of such a 
talent, but in what immediately regards his own 
preservation or the continuance of his species. ^° 
Animals in their generation are wiser than the sons 
of men; but their wisdom is confined to a few 
particulars, and lies in a very narrow compass. 
Take a brute out of his instinct, and you find him 
wholly deprived of understanding. To use an ^5 
instance that comes often under observation: 

With what caution does the hen provide herself 
a nest in places unfrequented, and free from noise 
and disturbance! When she has laid her eggs in 
such a manner that she can cover them, what care 20 
does she take in turning them frequently that all 
parts may partake of the vital warmth! When she 
leaves them, to provide for her necessary sustenance, 
how punctually does she return before they have 
time to cool, and become incapable of producing an 25 
animal! In the summer you see her giving herself 
greater freedoms, and quitting her care for above 
two hours together; but in winter, when the rigor 
of the season would chill the principles of life, and 



128 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 19 

destroy the young one, she grows more assiduous in 
her attendance, and stays away but half the time. 
When the birth approaches, with how much nicety 
and attention does she help the chick to break its 

5 prison! not to take notice of her covering it from 
the injuries of the weather, providing it proper 
nourishment, and teaching it to help itself; nor to 
mention her forsaking the nest, if after the usual 
time of reckoning the young one does not make its 

lo appearance. A chemical operation could not be fol- 
lowed with greater art or diligence than is seen in 
the hatching of a chick; though there are many 
other birds that show an infinitely greater sagacity 
in all the forementioned particulars. 

15 But at the same time the hen, that has all this 
seeming ingenuity (which is indeed absolutely neces- 
sary for the propagation of the species), considered 
in other respects, is without the least glimmering of 
thought or common sense. She mistakes a piece 

20 of chalk for an egg, and sits upon it in the same 
manner. She is insensible of any increase or dimi- 
nution in the number of those she lays. She does 
not distinguish between her own and those of 
another species; and when the birth appears of 

25 never so different a bird, will cherish it for her own. 
In all these circumstances, which do not carry an 
immediate regard to the subsistence of herself or 
her species, she is a very idiot. 

There is not, in my opinion, anything more 



No. 20] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 129 

mysterious in nature than this instinct in animals, 
which thus rises above reason, and falls infinitely 
short of it. It cannot be accounted for by any 
properties in matter, and at the same time works 
after so odd a manner, that one cannot think it the 5 
faculty of an intellectual being. For my own part, 
I look upon it as upon the principle of gravitation 
in bodies, which is not to be explained by any " 
known qualities inherent in the bodies themselves, 
nor from the laws of mechanism, but, according to i° 
the best notions of the greatest philosophers, is an 
immediate impression from the first mover, and the 
divine energy acting in the creatures. 



No. 20. Instinct in Animals 
Spectator No. 121. Thursday, July 19, 1711 

Jovis omnia plena.^ 

Virg. Eel. iii. 60. 

As I was walking this morning in the great yard 
that belongs to my friend's country house, I was 15 
wonderfully pleased to see the different workings 
of instinct in a hen followed by a brood of ducks. 
The young upon the sight of a pond, immediately 
ran into it; while the step-mother, with all imagi- 
nable anxiety, hovered about the borders of it, to call 20 
them out of an element that appeared to her so 
dangerous and destructive. As the different prin- 



130 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 20 

ciple which acted in these different animals cannot 
be termed reason, so when we call it instinct, we 
mean something we have no knowledge of. To me, 
as I hinted in my last paper, it seems the immediate 

5 direction of Providence, and such an operation of 
the supreme Being, as that which determines all 
the portions of matter to their proper centers. A 
modern philosopher, quoted by Monsieur Bayle ^ 
in his learned Dissertation on the Souls of Brutes, 

lo delivers the same opinion, though in a bolder form 
of words, where he says, Deus est anima hrutorum, — 
" God himself is the soul of brutes." Who can tell 
what to call that seeming sagacity in animals, which 
directs them to such food as is proper for them, and 

15 makes them naturally avoid whatever is noxious or 
unwholesome? Tully has observed that a lamb no 
sooner falls from its mother, but immediately and 
of its own accord it applies itself to the teat. 
Dampier,^ in his Travels, tells us, that when seamen 

20 are thrown upon any of the unknown coastis of 
America, they never venture upon the fruit of any 
tree, how tempting soever it may appear, unless 
they observe that it is marked with the pecking of 
birds; but fall on without any fear or apprehension 

25 where the birds have been before them. 

But notwithstanding animals have nothing like 
the use of reason, we find in them all the lower parts 
of our nature, the passions and senses, in their 
greatest strength and perfection. And here it is 



No. 20] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 131 

worth our observation, that all beasts and birds of 
prey are wonderfully subject to anger, malice, re- 
venge, and all the other violent passions that may 
animate them in search of their proper food; as 
those that are incapable of defending themselves, 5 
or annoying others, or whose safety lies chiefly in 
their flight, are suspicious, fearful, and apprehensive 
of everything they see or hear; whilst others, that 
are of assistance and use to man, have their natures 
softened with something mild and tractable, and ^° 
by that means are qualified for a domestic life. In 
this case the passions generally correspond with the 
make of the body. We do not find the fury of a 
lion in so weak and defenceless an animal as a lamb; 
nor the meekness of a lamb in a creature so armed i5 
for battle and assault as the lion. In the same 
manner, we find that particular animals have a 
more or less exquisite sharpness and sagacity in 
those particular senses which most turn to their 
advantage, and in which their safety and welfare 20 
is the most concerned. 

Nor must we here omit that great variety of arms 
with which nature has differently fortified the bodies 
of several kind of animals, such as claws, hoofs, 
horns, teeth, and tusks, a tail, a sting, a trunk, or a 25 
proboscis. It is likewise observed by naturalists, 
that it must be some hidden principle, distinct from 
what we call reason, which instructs animals in the 
use of these their arms, and teaches them to manage 



132 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 20 

them to the best advantage; because they naturally 
defend themselves with that part in which their 
strength lies, before the weapon be formed in it; as 
is remarkable in lambs, which, though they are 
5 bred within doors, and never saw the actions of 
their own species, push at those who approach them 
with their foreheads, before the first budding of a 
horn appears. 

I shall add to these general observations an 

lo instance, which Mr. Locke has given us of Provi- 
dence even in the imperfections of a creature which 
seems the meanest and the most despicable in the 
whole animal world. "We may," says he, "from 
the make of an oyster or cockle, conclude, that it 

15 has not so many nor so quick senses as a man, or 
several other animals; nor if it had, would it, in 
that state and incapacity of transferring itself from 
one place to another, be bettered by them. What 
good would sight and hearing do to a creature, that 

20 cannot move itself to or from the object, wherein 
at a distance it perceives good or evil? And would 
not quickness of sensation be an inconvenience to 
an animal that must be still where chance has once 
placed it, and there receive the afflux of colder or 

25 warmer, clean or foul water, as it happens to come 
to it? 

I shall add to this instance out of Mr. Locke 
another out of the learned Dr. More,^ who cjtes it 
from Cardan,^ in relation to another animal which 



No. 20] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 133 

Providence has left defective, but at the same time 
has shown its wisdom in the formation of that 
organ in which it seems chiefly to have failed. 
"What is more obvious and ordinary than a mole? 
and yet what more palpable argument of Providence 5 
than she? The members of her body are so exactly 
fitted to her nature and manner of life: for her 
dwelling being under ground, w^here nothing is to 
be seen, nature has so obscurely fitted her with 
eyes, that naturalists can scarce agree whether she lo 
have any sight at all, or no. But for amends, w^hat 
she is capable of for her defence and warning of 
danger, she has very eminently conferred upon her; 
for she is exceeding quick of hearing. And then her 
short tail and short legs, but broad fore-feet armed iS 
with sharp claws; we see by the event' to what 
purpose they are, she so swiftly working herself 
under ground, and making her way so fast in the 
earth as they that behold it cannot but admire it. 
Her legs therefore are short, that she need dig no 20 
more than will serve the mere thickness of her body; 
and her fore-feet are broad, that she may scoop 
away much earth at a time; and little or no tail she 
has, because she courses it not upon the ground, 
like the rat or mouse, of whose kindred she is; but 25 
lives under the earth, and is fain to dig herself a 
dwelling there. And she making her way through 
so thick an element, which will not yield easily as 
the air or the water, it had been dangerous to have 



134 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 20 

drawn so long a train behind her; for her enemy 

might fall upon her rear, and fetch her out before she 

had completed or got full possession of her works." 

I cannot forbear mentioning Mr. Boyle's ® remark 

5 upon this last creature, who I remember somewhere 
in his works observes, that though the mole be not 
totally blind (as it is commonly thought) she has 
not sight enough to distinguish particular objects. 
Her eye is said to have but one humor in it, which 

lo is supposed to give her the idea of light, but of 
nothing else, and is so formed that this idea is 
probably painful to the animal. Whenever she 
comes up into broad day she might be in danger of 
being taken, unless she were thus affected by a light 

15 striking upon her eye, and immediately warning her 
to bury herself in her proper element. More sight 
would be useless to her, as none at all might be 
fatal. 

I have only instanced such animals as seem the 

20 most imperfect works of nature; and if Providence 
shows itself even in the blemishes of these creatures, 
how much more does it discover itself in the several 
endowments which it has variously bestowed upon 
such creatures as are more or less finished and com- 

25 pleted in their several faculties, according to the 
condition of life in which they are posted. 

I could wish our Royal Society ^ would compile a 
body of natural history, the best that could be 
gathered together from books and observations. If 



No. 20] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 135 

the several writers among them took each his par- 
ticular species, and gave us a distinct account of 
its origin, birth, and education; its policies, hos- 
tilities, and alliances, with the frame and texture of 
its inward and outward parts, and particularly those 5 
that distinguish it from all other animals, with their 
peculiar aptitudes for the state of being in which 
Providence has placed them, it would be one of the 
best services their studies could do mankind, and 
not a little redound to the glory of the all-wise lo 
Contriver. 

It is true, such a natural history, after all the 
disquisitions of the learned, would be infinitely 
short and defective. Seas and deserts hide millions 
of animals from our observation. Innumerable ^5 
artifices and stratagems are acted in the "howling 
wilderness" and in the "great deep," that can 
never come to our knowledge. Besides that there 
are infinitely more species of creatures which are 
not to be seen without nor indeed with the help of 20 
the finest glasses, than of such as are bulky enough 
for the naked eye to take hold of. However, from 
the consideration of such animals as lie within the 
compass of our knowledge, we might easily form a 
conclusion of the rest, that the same variety of 25 
wisdom and goodness runs through the whole crea- 
tion, and puts every creature in a condition to 
provide for its safety and subsistence in its proper 
station. 



136 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY: PAPERS [No. 21 

Tully has given us an admirable sketch of natural 
history in his second book concerning the Nature 
of the Gods; and that in a style so raised by meta- 
phors and descriptions, that it lifts the subject 
5 above raillery and ridicule, which frequently fall on 
such nice observations when they pass through the 
hands of an ordinary writer. , 



No. 21. Sir Roger at the Assizes 

Spectator No. 122. Friday, July 20, 1711 

Comes jucundus in via pro vohiculo est.^ 

Publ. Syr. Frag. 

A man's first care should be to avoid the re- 
proaches of his own heart; his next, to escape the 

lo censures of the world. If the last interferes with 
the former, it ought to be entirely neglected; but 
otherwise there cannot be a greater satisfaction to 
an honest mind, than to see those approbations 
which it gives itself seconded by the applauses of 

15 the public. A man is more sure of his conduct, 
when the verdict which he passes upon his own 
behavior is thus warranted and confirmed by the 
opinion of all that know him. 

My worthy friend Sir Roger is one of those who 

20 is not only at peace within himself, but beloved 
and esteemed by all about him. He receives a 
suitable tribute for his universal benevolence to 



No. 21] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 137 

mankind, in the returns of affection and good-will, 
which are paid him by every one that lives within 
his neighborhood. I lately met with two or three 
odd instances of that general respect which is shown 
to the good old knight. He would needs carry 5 
Will Wimble and myself with him to the county 
assizes. As we were upon the road Will Wimble 
joined a couple of plain men who rid before us, and 
conversed with them for some time; during which 
my friend Sir Roger acquainted me with their 1° 
characters. 

"The first of them," says he, "that has a spaniel 
by his side, is a yeoman of about an hundred pounds 
a year, an honest man. He is just within the 
game-act,^ and qualified to kill a hare or a pheasant. ^5 
He knocks dow^n his dinner with his gun twice or 
thrice a week; and by that means lives much cheaper 
than those who have not so good an estate as him- 
self. He would be a good neighbor if he did not 
destroy so many partridges. In short, he is a very 20 
sensible man; shoots flying; and has been several 
times foreman of the petty- jury. 

"The other that rides along with him is Tom 
Touchy, a fellow famous for 'taking the law' of 
everybody. There is not one in the town w^here he 25 
lives that he has not sued at a quarter sessions. 
The rogue had once the impudence to go to law 
with the Widow. His head is full of costs, damages, 
and ejectments. He plagued a couple of honest 



138 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 21 

gentlemen so long for a trespass in breaking one of 
his hedges, till he was forced to sell the ground it 
enclosed to defray the charges of the prosecution; 
his father left him fourscore pounds a year: but he 

5 has cast ^ and been cast so often, that he is not now 
worth thirty. I suppose he is going upon the old 
business of the willow-tree." 

As Sir Roger was giving me this account of Tom 
Touchy, Will Wimble and his two companions 

lo stopped short till we came up to them. After 
having paid their respects to Sir Roger, Will told 
him that Mr. Touchy and he must appeal to him 
upon a dispute that arose between them. Will it 
seems had been giving his fellow-traveler an account 

15 of his angling one day in such a hole: when Tom 
Touchy, instead of hearing out his story, told him 
that Mr. Such-a-One, if he pleased, might "take the 
law of him" for fishing in that part of the river. 
My friend Sir Roger heard them both, upon a round 

20 trot; and after having paused some time told them, 
with the air of a man who would not give his judg- 
ment rashly, that "much might be said on both 
sides." They were neither of them dissatisfied with 
the knight's determination, because neither of them 

25 found himself in the wrong by it. Upon which we 
made the best of our way to the assizes. 

The court was sat before Sir Roger came; but 
notwithstanding all the justices had taken their 
places upon the bench, they made room for the old 



No. 21] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 139 

knight at the head of them; who for his reputation 
in the country took occasion to whisper in the 
judge's ear, " that he was glad his lordship had met 
with so much good weather in his circuit." I was 
listening to the proceeding of the court with much 5 
attention, and infinitely pleased with that great 
appearance of solemnity which so properly accom- 
panies such a public administration of our laws; 
when after about an hour's sitting, I observed, to 
my great surprise, in the midst of a trial, that my ^o 
friend Sir Roger was getting up to speak. I was in 
some pain for him, until I found he had acquitted 
himself of two or three sentences, with a look of 
much business and great intrepidity. 

Upon his first rising the court was hushed, and ^5 
a general whisper ran among the country people, 
that Sir Roger ''was up." The speech he made 
was so little to the purpose, that I shall not trouble 
my readers with an account of it; and I believe was 
not so much designed by the knight himself to 20 
inform the court, as to give him a figure in my eye, 
and keep up his credit in the country. 

I was highly delighted when the court rose to see 
the gentlemen of the country gathering about my 
old friend, and striving who should compliment him 25 
most; at the same time that the ordinary people 
gazed upon him at a distance, not a little admiring 
his courage that was not afraid to speak to the 
judge. 



140 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 21 

In our return home we met with a very odd 
accident; which I cannot forbear relating, because 
it shows how desirous all who know Sir Roger are 
of giving him marks of their esteem. When we 

5 were arrived upon the verge of his estate, we stopped 
at a little inn to rest ourselves and our horses. 
The man of the house had it seems, been formerly a 
servant in the knight's family; and to do honor to 
his old master, had some time since, unknown to 

lo Sir Roger, put him up in a sign-post before the 
door; so that the knight's head had hung out upon 
the road about a week before he himself knew any- 
thing of the matter. As soon as Sir Roger was 
acquainted with it, finding that his servant's indis- 

15 cretion proceeded wholly from affection and good- 
will, he only told him that he had made him too 
high a compliment; and when the fellow seemed to 
think that could hardly be, added with a more 
decisive look, that it was too great an honor for 

2o any man under a duke; but told him at the same 
time, that it might be altered with a very few 
touches, and that he himself would be at the charge 
of it. Accordingly they got a painter by the 
knight's directions to add a pair of whiskers to the 

25 face, and by a little aggravation of the features to 
change it into the Saracen's Head. I should not 
have known this story, had not the inn-keeper, 
upon Sir Roger's alighting, told him in my hearing, 
that his honor's head was brought back last night 



No. 21] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 141 

with the alterations that he had ordered to be 
made in it. Upon this my friend, with his usual 
cheerfulness, related the particulars above men- 
tioned, and ordered the head to be brought into 
the room. I could not forbear discovering greater 5 
expressions of mirth than ordinary upon the ap- 
pearance of this monstrous face, under which, 
notwithstanding it was made to frown and stare 
in a most extraordinary manner, I could still dis- 
cover a distant resemblance of my old friend. Sir lo 
Roger, upon seeing me laugh, desired me to tell 
him truly if I thought it possible for people to 
know him in that disguise. I at first kept my 
usual silence; but upon the knight's conjuring me 
to tell whether it was not still more like himself ^5 
than a Saracen, I composed my countenance in the 
best manner I could, and replied, that "much might 
be said on both sides." 

These several adventures, with the knight's be- 
havior in them, gave me as pleasant a day as ever 20 
I met with in any of my travels. 




142 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 22 

No. '22. Eudoxus and Leontine 

Spectator No. 123. Saturday, July 21, 1711 

Doctrina sed vim promovet insitam, 
Rectique cultus pectora roborant: 

Utcunque defecere mores, 
Dedecorant bene nata culpae.^ 

Hor. Lib. 4. Od. iv. 33. 

As I was yesterday taking the air with my friend 
Sir Roger, we were met by a fresh-colored ruddy 
young man who rid by us full speed, with a couple 
of servants behind him. Upon my inquiry who he 

5 was, Sir Roger told me that he was a young gen- 
tleman of a considerable estate, who had been edu- 
cated by a tender mother that lived not many miles 
from the place where we were. She is a very good 
lady, says my friend, but took so much care of her 

lo son's health, that she has made him good for nothing. 
She quickly found that reading was bad for his eyes, 
and that writing made his head ache. He was let 
loose among the woods as soon as he was able to 
ride on horseback, or to carry a gun upon his 

15 shoulder. To be brief, I found, by my friend's 
account of him, that he had got a great stock of 
health, but nothing else; but that if it were a man's 
business only to live, there would not be a more 
accomplished young fellow in the whole county. 

20 The truth of it is, since my residing in these parts 
I have seen and heard innumerable instances of 



No. 22] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 143 

young heirs and elder brothers, who, either from 
their own reflecting upon the estates they are born 
to, and therefore thinking all other accomplishments 
unnecessary, or from hearing these notions fre- 
quently inculcated to them by the flattery of their 5 
servants and domestics, or from the same foolish 
thought prevailing in those who have the care of 
their education, are of no manner of use but to 
keep up their families, and transmit their lands and 
houses in a line to posterity. lo 

This makes me often think on a story I have 
heard of two friends, which I shall give my reader 
at large, under feigned names. The moral of it 
may, I hope, be useful, though there are some 
circumstances which make it rather appear like a 15 
novel, than a true story. 

Eudoxus and Leontine began the world with 
small estates. They were both of them men of 
good sense and great virtue. They prosecuted their 
studies together in their earlier years, and entered 20 
into such a friendship as lasted to the end of their 
lives. Eudoxus, at his first setting out in the 
world, threw himself into a court, where by his 
natural endowments and his acquired abilities he 
made his way from one post to another, until at 25 
length he had raised a very considerable fortune. 
Leontine on the contrary sought all opportunities 
of improving his mind by study, conversation, and 
travel. He was not only acquainted with all the 



144 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 22 

sciences, but with the most eminent professors of 
them throughout Europe. He knew perfectly well 
the interests of its princes, with the customs and 
fashions of their courts, and could scarce meet with 

5 the name of an extraordinary person in the Gazette 
whom he had not either talked to or seen.^ In 
short, he had so well mixed and digested his knowl- 
edge of men and books, that he made one of the 
most accomplished persons of his age. During the 

^° whole course of his studies and travels he kept up 
a punctual correspondence with Eudoxus, who often 
made himself acceptable to the principal men about 
court by the intelligence which he received from 
Leontine. When they were both turned of forty ^ 

^5 (an age in which according to Mr. Cowley, " there is 
no dallying with life,") ^ they determined, pursuant 
to the resolution they had taken in the beginning 
of their lives, to retire, and pass the remainder of 
their days in the country. In order to this, they 

2o both of them married much about the same time. 
Leontine, with his own and wife's fortune, bought 
a farm of three hundred a year, which lay within 
the neighborhood of his friend Eudoxus, who had 
purchased an estate of as many thousands. They 

25 were both of them fathers about the same time, 
Eudoxus having a son born to him, and Leontine a 
daughter; but to the unspeakable grief of the latter, 
his young wife (in whom all his happiness was wrapt 
up) died in a few days after the birth of her daughter. 



No. 22] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 145 

His affliction would have been insupportable, had 
not he been comforted by the daily visits and con- 
versations of his friend. As they were one day 
talking together with their usual intimacy, Leontine, 
considering how incapable he was of giving his S 
daughter a proper education in his own house, and 
Eudoxus reflecting on the ordinary behavior of a 
son who knows himself to be the heir of a great 
estate, they both agreed upon an exchange of 
children, namely, that the boy should be bred up lo 
with Leontine as his son, and that the girl should 
live with Eudoxus as his daughter, until they were 
each of them arrived at years of discretion. The 
wife of Eudoxus, knowing that her son could not 
be so advantageously brought up as under the care is 
of Leontine, and considering at the same time that 
he would be perpetually under her own eye, was by 
degrees prevailed upon to fall in with the project. 
She therefore took Leonilla, for that was the name 
of the girl, and educated her as her own daughter. 20 
The two friends on each side had wrought them- 
selves to such an habitual tenderness for the chil- 
dren who were under their direction, that each of 
them had the real passion of a father, where the 
title was but imaginary. Florio, the name of the 25 
young heir that lived with Leontine, though he had 
all the duty and affection imaginable for his sup- 
posed parent, was taught to rejoice at the sight of 
Eudoxus, who visited his friend very frequently, 



146 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 22 

and was dictated by his natural affection, as well 
as by the rules of prudence, to make himself es- 
teemed and beloved by Florio. The boy was now 
old enough to know his supposed father's circum- 

5 stances, and that therefore he was to make his way 
in the world by his own industry. This consider- 
ation grew stronger in him every day, and produced 
so good an effect, that he applied himself with more 
than ordinary attention to the pursuit of everything 

lo which Leontine recommended to him. His natural 
abilities, which were very good, assisted by the 
directions of so excellent a counselor, enabled him 
to make a quicker progress than ordinary through 
all the parts of his education. Before he was twenty 

15 years of age, having finished his studies and exer- 
cises with great applause, he was removed from the 
university to the inns of court, where there are 
very few that make themselves considerable pro- 
^'y'" ficients in the studies of the place, who know they 

20 shall arrive at great estates without them. This 
was not Florio's case; he found that three hundred 
a year was but a poor estate for Leontine and him- 
self to live upon, so that he studied without inter- 
mission till he gained a very good insight into the 

25 constitution and laws of his country. 

I should have told my reader, that whilst Florio 
lived at the house of his foster-father, he was always 
an acceptable guest in the family of Eudoxus, where 
he became acquainted with Leonilla from her in- 



No. 22] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 147 

fancy. His acquaintance with her by degrees grew 
into love, which in a mind trained up in all the 
sentiments of honor and virtue became a very 
uneasy passion. He despaired of gaining an heiress 
of so great a fortune, and would rather have died 5 
than attempted it by any indirect methods. Leo- 
nilla, who was a woman of the greatest beauty 
joined with the greatest modesty, entertained at 
the same time a secret passion for Florio, but con- 
ducted herself with so much prudence, that she lo 
never gave him the least intimation of it. Florio 
was now engaged in all those arts and improvements 
that are proper to raise a man's private fortune, 
and give him a figure in his country, but secretly 
tormented with that passion which burns with the ^5 
greatest fury in a virtuous and noble heart, when 
he received a sudden summons from Leontine, to 
repair to him in the country the next day: for it 
seems Eudoxus was so filled with the report of his 
son's reputation, that he could no longer withhold 20 
making himself known to him. The morning after 
his arrival at the house of his supposed father, 
Leontine told him that Eudoxus had something of 
great importance to communicate to him; upon 
which the good man embraced him, and wept. 25 
Florio was no sooner arrived at the great house 
that stood in his neighborhood, but Eudoxus took 
him by the hand, after the first salutes were over, 
and conducted him into his closet.^ He there 



148 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 22 

opened to him the whole secret of his parentage 
and education, concluding after this manner: "I 
have no other way of acknowledging my gratitude 
to Leontine, than by marrying you to his daughter. 

5 He shall not lose the pleasure of being your father 
by the discovery I have made to you. Leonilla 
too shall be still my daughter; her filial piety, 
though misplaced, has been so exemplary, that it 
deserves the greatest reward I can confer upon it. 

lo You shall have the pleasure of seeing a great estate 
fall to you, which you would have lost the relish 
of, had you known yourself born to it. Continue 
only to deserve it in the same manner you did 
before you were possessed of it. I have left your 

15 mother in the next room. Her heart yearns to- 
wards you. She is making the same discoveries to 
Leonilla which I have made to yourself." Florio 
was so overwhelmed with this profusion of happi- 
ness, that he was not able to make a reply, but 

20 threw himself down at his father's feet, and amidst 
a flood of tears, kissed and embraced his knees, 
asking his blessing, and expressing in dumb show 
those sentiments of love, duty, and gratitude that 
were too big for utterance. To conclude, the happy 

25 pair were married, and half Eudoxus's estate settled 
upon them. Leontine and Eudoxus passed the 
remainder of their lives together; and received in 
the dutiful and affectionate behavior of Florio and 
Leonilla the just recompense, as well as the natural 



No. 23] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 149 

effects of that care which they had bestowed upon 
them in their education. 



No. 23. Party Spirit 

Spectator No. 125. Tuesday, July 24, 1711 

Ne, pueri, ne tanta animis assuescite bella; 
Neu patria3 validas in viscera vertite vires.^ 

Virg. Mn. vi. 832. 

My worthy friend Sir Roger, when we are talking 
of the mahce of parties, very frequently tells us an 
accident that happened to him wiien he was a 5 
school-boy, which was at the time ^ when the feuds 
ran high between the Roundheads and Cavaliers. 
This worthy knight, being then but a stripling, had 
occasion to inquire which was the way to St. Anne's 
Lane? upon which the person whom he spoke to, 10 
instead of answering his question, called him a 
young popish cur, and asked him who had made 
Anne a saint? The boy, being in some confusion, 
inquired of the next he met, which was the way to 
Anne's Lane? but was called a prick-eared cur for 15 
his pains, and instead of being shown the way, was 
told that she had been a saint before he was born, 
and would be one after he was hanged. "Upon 
this," says Sir Roger, " I did not think fit to repeat 
the former question, but going into every lane of 20 
the neighborhood, asked what they called the name 
of that lane?" By which ingenious artifice he 



150 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 23 

found out the place he inquired after, without giving 
offence to any party. Sir Roger generally closes 
this narrative with reflections on the mischief that 
parties do in the country; how they spoil good 
5 neighborhood, and make honest gentlemen hate one 
another; besides that they manifestly tend to the 
prejudice of the land-tax, and the destruction of the 
game. 

There cannot a greater judgment befall a country 
lo than such a dreadful spirit of division as rends a 
government into two distinct people, and makes 
them greater strangers and more averse to one 
another, than if they were actually two different 
nations. The effects of such a division are perni- 
os cious to the last degree, not only with regard to 
those advantages which they give the common 
enemy, but to those private evils which they produce 
in the heart of almost every particular person. 
This influence is very fatal both to men's morals and 
2o their understandings ; it sinks the virtue of a nation, 
and not only so, but destroys even common sense. 
A furious party spirit, when it rages in its full 
violence, exerts itself in civil war and bloodshed; 
and when it is under its greatest restraints naturally 
25 breaks out in falsehood, detraction, calumny, and 
a partial administration of justice. In a word, it 
fills a nation with spleen and rancor, and extin- 
guishes all the seeds of good-nature, compassion, 
and humanity. 



No. 23] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 151 

Plutarch^ says, very finely, "that a man should 
not allow himself to hate even his enemies, because,'' 
says he, "if you indulge this passion in some occa- 
sions, it will rise of itself in others; if you hate your 
enemies, you will contract such a vicious habit of 5 
mind, as by degrees will break out upon those who 
are your friends, or those who are indifferent to 
you." I might here observe how admirably this 
precept of morality (which derives the malignity of 
hatred from the passion itself, and not from its lo 
object) answers to that great rule which was dic- 
tated to the world about an hundred years before 
this philosopher wrote; ^ but instead of that, I shall 
only take notice, with a real grief of heart, that the 
minds of many good men among us appear soured 15 
with party-principles, and alienated from one 
another in such a manner, as seems to me altogether 
inconsistent with the dictates either of reason or 
religion. Zeal for a public cause is apt to breed 
passions in the hearts of virtuous persons, to which 20 
the regard of their own private interest would never 
have betrayed them. 

If this party-spirit has so ill an effect on our 
morals, it has likewise a very great one upon our 
judgments. We often hear a poor insipid paper or 25 
pamphlet cried up, and sometimes a noble piece 
depreciated, by those who are of a different principle 
from the author. One who is actuated by this 
spirit is almost under an incapacity of discerning 



152 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 23 

either real blemishes or beauties. A man of merit 
in a different principle, is like an object seen in two 
different mediums, that appears crooked or broken, 
however straight and entire it may be in itself. 

5 For this reason there is scarce a person of any 
figure in England, who does not go by two contrary 
characters, as opposite to one another as light and 
darkness. Knowledge and learning suffer in a par- 
ticular manner from this strange prejudice, which 

lo at present prevails amongst all ranks and degrees 
in the British nation. As men formerly became 
eminent in learned societies by their parts and 
acquisitions, they now distinguish themselves by 
the warmth and violence with which they espouse 

15 their respective parties. Books are valued upon 
the like considerations. An abusive scurrilous style 
passes for satire, and a dull scheme of party notions 
is called fine writing, /^t^^^^^^^^^rvx^ 

There is one piece of' sophistry practised by both 

20 sides, and that is the taking any scandalous story 
that has been ever whispered or invented of a 
private man, for a known undoubted truth, and / 
raising suitable speculations upon it. Calmnmes' 
that have been never proved, or hg,ve been ofteri^^^^ 

25 refuted, are the ordinary posUiIatinn? o^^ffiese J^ 
infamous scribblers, upon which they proceed as 
upon first principles granted by all men, though in 
their hearts they know they are false, or at best 
very doubtful. When they have laid these foun- 



No. 23] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 153 

dations of scurrility, it is no wonder that their 
superstructure is every way answerable to them. 
If this shameless practice of the present age endures 
much longer, praise and reproach will cease to be 
motives of action in good men. 5 

There are certain periods of time in all govern- 
ments when this inhuman spirit prevails. Italy 
A was long torn in pieces by the Guelphs and Ghibel- 
■*>• lines,^ and France by those who were for and against 
the league :^ but it is very unhappy for a man to be lo 
born in such a stormy and tempestuous season. It 
is the restless ambition of artful men that thus 
breaks a people into factions, and draws several 
well-meaning persons to their interest by a specious 
concern for their country. How many honest minds i5 
are filled with uncharitable and barbarous notions, 
out of their zeal for the public good? What cruel- 
ties and outrages would they not commit against 
men of an adverse party, whom they would honor 
and esteem, if, instead of considering them as they 20 
are represented, they knew them as they are? Thus 
are persons of the greatest probity seduced into 
shameful errors and prejudices, are made bad men 
even by that noblest of principles, the "love of 
their country." I cannot here forbear mentioning 25 
the famous Spanish proverb, " If there were neither 
fools nor knaves in the world, all people would be 
of one mind." 

For my own part I could heartily wish that all 




154 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 24 

honest men would enter into an association, for the 
support of one another against the endeavors of 
those whom they ought to look upon as their com- 
mon enemies, whatsoever side they may belong to. 

5 Were there such an honest body of neutral forces, 
we should never see the worst of men in great 
figures of life, because they are useful to a party; 
nor the best unregarded, because they are above 
practising those methods which would be grateful 

lo to their faction. We should then single every crim- 
inal out of the herd, and hunt him down, however 
formidable and overgrown he might appear: on the 
contrary, we should shelter distressed innocence, 
and defend virtue, however beset with contempt or 

15 ridicule, envy or defamation. In short, we should 
not any longer regard our fellow-subjects as Whigs 
or Tories, but should make the man of merit our 
friend, and the villain our enemy. 



No. 24. Party Spirit — Continued 
Spectator No. 126. Wednesday, July 25, 1711 

Tros Rutiilusve fuat, nullo discrimine habebo.i 

Virg. Mn. x. 108. 

In my yesterday's paper I proposed, that the 

20 honest men of all parties should enter into a kind 

of association for the defence of one another, and 

the confusion of their common enemies. As it is 



No. 24] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 155 

designed this neutral body should act with regard 
to nothing but truth and equity, and divest them- 
selves of the little heats and prepossessions that 
cleave to parties of all kinds, I have prepared for 
them the following form of an association, which 5 
may express their intentions in the most plain and 
simple manner. 

"We whose names are hereunto subscribed do 
solemnly declare, that we do in our consciences 
believe two and two make four; and that we shall lo 
adjudge any man whatsoever to be our enemy who 
endeavors to persuade us to the contrary. We are 
likewise ready to maintain, with the hazard of all 
that is near and dear to us, that six is less than 
seven in all times and all places: and that ten will 15 
not be more three years hence than it is at present. 
We do also firmly declare, that it is our resolution 
as long as we live to call black black, and white 
white. And we shall upon all occasions oppose 
such persons that upon any day of the year shall 20 
call black white, or white black, with the utmost 
peril of our lives and fortunes." 

Were there such a combination of honest men, 
who without any regard to places would endeavor 
to extirpate all such furious zealots as would sacri- 25 
fice one half of their country to the passion and 
interest of the other; as also such infamous hypo- 
crites, that are for promoting their own advantage 
under color of the public good ; with all the profligate 



156 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 24 

immoral retainers to each side, that have nothing 
to recommend them but an implicit submission to 
their leaders ; we should soon see that furious party- 
spirit extinguished, which may in time expose us to 

5 the derision and contempt of all the nations about 
us. 

A member of this society that would thus care- 
fully employ himself in making room for merit, by 
throwing down the worthless and depraved part of 

lo mankind from those conspicuous stations of life to 
which they have been sometimes advanced, and all 
this without any regard to his private interest, 
would be no small benefactor to his country. 

I remember to have read in Diodorus Siculus ^ an 

IS account of a very active little animal, which I think 
he calls the ichneumon, that makes it the whole 
business of his life to break the eggs of the crocodile, 
which he is always in search after. This instinct is 
the more remarkable, because the ichneumon never 

2o feeds upon the eggs he has broken, nor any other 
way finds his account in them. Were it not for the 
incessant labors of this industrious animal, Egypt, 
says the historian, would be overrun with croco- 
diles; for the Egyptians are so far from destroying 

25 those pernicious creatures, that they worship them 
as gods. 

If we look into the behavior of ordinary partisans, 
we shall find them far from resembling this disin- 
terested animal ; and rather acting after the example 



No. 24] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 157 

of the wild Tartars, who are ambitious of destroying 
a man of the most extraordinary parts and accom- 
pUshments, as thinking that upon his decease the 
same talents, whatever post they qualified him for, 
enter of course into his destroyer. 5 

As in the whole train of my speculations, I have 
endeavored as much as I am able to extinguish that 
pernicious spirit of passion and prejudice, which 
rages with the same violence in all parties, I am 
still the more desirous of doing some good in this i° 
particular, because I observe that the spirit of party 
reigns more in the country than in the town. It 
here contracts a kind of brutality and rustic fierce- 
ness, to which men of a politer conversation ^ are 
wholly strangers. It extends itself even to the ^5 
return of the bow and the hat ; and at the same time 
that the heads of parties preserve towards one 
another an outward show of good-breeding, and 
keep up a perpetual intercourse of civilities, their 
tools that are dispersed in these outlying parts will 20 
not so much as mingle together at a cock-match.^ 
This humor fills the country with several periodical 
meetings of Whig jockies and Tory fox-hunters; 
not to mention the innumerable curses, frowns, and 
whispers it produces at a quarter-sessions. 25 

I do not know whether I have observed in any 
of my former papers, that my friends Sir Roger de 
Coverley and Sir Andrew Freeport are of different 
principles, the first of them inclined to the landed 



158 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 24 

and the other to the monied interest. This humor 
is so moderate in each of them, that it proceeds no 
farther than to an agreeable raillery, which very 
often diverts the rest of the club. I find, however, 

5 that the knight is a much stronger Tory in the 
country than in town, which as he has told me in 
my ear, is absolutely necessary for the keeping up 
his interest. In all our journey from London to 
this house we did not so much as bait at a Whig 

lo inn; or if by chance the coachman stopped at a 
wrong place, one of Sir Roger's servants would ride 
up to his master full speed, and whisper to him that 
the master of the house was against such an one in 
the last election. This often betrayed us into hard 

15 beds and bad cheer; ^ for we were not so inquisitive 
about the inn as the inn-keeper; and provided our 
landlord's principles were sound, did not take any 
notice of the staleness of his provisions. This I 
found still the more inconvenient, because the better 

20 the host was, the worse generally were his accom- 
modations; the fellow knowing very well that those 
who were his friends would take up with coarse diet 
and an hard lodging. For these reasons, all the 
while I was upon the road I dreaded entering into 

25 an house of any one that Sir Roger had applauded 
for an honest man. 

Since my stay at Sir Roger's in the country, I 
daily find more instances of this narrow party 
humor. Being upon the bowling-green^ at a 



No. 24] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 159 

neighboring market-town the other day (for that 
is the place where the gentlemen of one side meet 
once a week) I observed a stranger among them of 
a better presence and genteeler behavior than ordi- 
nary; but was much surprised, that notwithstanding 5 
he was a very fair bettor, nobody would take him 
up. But upon inquiry I found, that he was one 
who had given a disagreeable vote in a former 
parliament, for which reason there was not a man 
upon that bowling-green who would have so much lo 
correspondence with him as to win his money of 
him. 

Among other instances of this nature, I must not 
omit one which concerns myself. Will Wimble was 
the other day relating several strange stories that he ^5 
had picked up, nobody knows where, of a certain great 
man; and upon my staring at him, as one that was 
surprised to hear such things in the country, which 
had never been so much as whispered in the town. 
Will stopped short in the thread of his discourse, 20 
and after dinner asked my friend Sir Roger in his 
ear if he was sure that I was not a fanatic. 

It gives me a serious concern to see such a spirit 
of dissension in the country; not only as it destroys 
virtue and common sense, and renders us in a 25 
manner barbarians towards one another, but as it 
perpetuates our animosities, widens our breaches, 
and transmits our present passions and prejudices 
to our posterity. For my own part, I am some- 



160 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 25 

times afraid that I discover the seeds of a civil war 
in these our divisions; and therefore cannot but 
bewail, as in their first principles, the miseries and 
calamities of our children. 



No. 25. Sir Roger and the Gypsies 

Spectator No. 130. Monday, July 30, 1711 
Semperque recentes 



Convectare juvat praedas, et vivere rapto.^ 

Virg. JEn. vii. 748. 

5 As I was yesterday riding out in the fields with 
my friend Sir Roger, we saw at a little distance 
from us a troop of gypsies. . Upon the first discovery 
of them, my friend was in some doubt whether he 
should not exert the justice of the peace upon such 

lo a band of lawless vagrants; but not having his clerk 
with him, who is a necessary counselor on these 
occasions, and fearing that his poultry might fare 
the worse for it, he let the thought drop; but at the 
same time gave me a particular account of the 

15 mischiefs they do in the country, in stealing people's 
goods and spoiling their servants. " If a stray piece 
of linen hangs upon an hedge,'' says Sir Roger, 
"they are sure to have it; if the hog loses his way 
in the fields, it is ten to one but he becomes their 

20 prey: our geese cannot live in peace for them; if a 
man prosecutes them with severity, his hen-roost is 
sure to pay for it. They generally straggle into 



No. 25] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 161 

these parts about this time of the year; and set the 
heads of our servant-maids so agog for husbands, 
that we do not expect to have any business done as 
it should be, whilst they are in the country. I have 
an honest dairy-maid who crosses their hands with 5 
a piece of silver every summer, and never fails being 
promised the handsomest young fellow in the parish 
for her pains. Your friend the butler has been fool 
enough to be seduced by them; and though he is 
sure to lose a knife, a fork, or a spoon every time lo 
his fortune is told him, generally shuts himself up 
in the pantry with an old gypsy for above half an 
hour once in a twelve-month. Sweethearts are the 
things they live upon, which they bestow very 
plentifully upon all those that apply themselves to 15 
them. You see now and then some handsome 
young jades among them : the sluts ^ have very 
often white teeth and black eyes." 

Sir Roger observing that I listened with great 
attention to his account of a people who were so 20 
entirely new to me, told me, that, if I would, they 
should tell us our fortunes. As I was very well 
pleased with the knight's proposal, we rid up and 
communicated our hands to them. A Cassandra ^ 
of the crew, after having examined my lines very 25 
diligently, told me, that I loved a pretty maid in a 
corner, that I was a good woman's man, with some 
other particulars which I do not think proper to 
relate. My friend Sir Roger alighted from his horse, 



162 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 25 

and exposing his palm to two or three that stood 
by him, they crumpled it into all shapes, and dili- 
gently scanned every wrinkle that could be made 
in it; when one of them, who was older and more 

5 sun-burnt than the rest, told him, that he had a 
widow in his line of life. Upon which the knight 
cried, "Go, go, you are an idle baggage"; and at 
the same time smiled upon me. The gypsy finding 
he was not displeased in his heart, told him after a 

lo farther inquiry into his hand, that his true-love was 
constant, and that she should dream of him to- 
night. My old friend cried Pish! and bid her go on. 
The gypsy told him that he was a bachelor, but 
would not be so long; and that he was dearer to 

15 somebody than he thought. The knight still re- 
peated, " She was an idle baggage," and bid her go 
on. "Ah, master," says the gypsy, "that roguish 
leer of yours makes a pretty woman's heart ache; 
you have not that simper about the mouth for 

20 nothing." — The uncouth gibberish with which all 
this was uttered, like the darkness of an oracle, 
made us the more attentive to it. To be short, the 
knight left the money with her that he had crossed 
her hand with, and got up again on his horse. 

25 As we were riding away, Sir Roger told me, that 
he knew several sensible people who believed these 
gypsies now and then foretold very strange things; 
and for half an hour together appeared more jocund 
than ordinary. In the height of his good-humor, 



No. 25] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 163 

meeting a common beggar upon the road, who was 
no conjurer, as he went to reHeve him he found his 
pocket was picked; that being a kind of palmistry 
at which this race of vermin are very dextrous. 

I might here entertain my reader with historical 5 
remarks on this idle profligate people, who infest all 
the countries of Europe, and live in the midst of 
governments in a kind of commonwealth by them- 
selves. But instead of entering into observations 
of this nature, I shall fill the remaining part of my lo 
paper with a story which is still fresh in Holland, 
and was printed in one of our monthly accounts 
about twenty years ago. "As the trekschuyt, or 
hackney-boat, which carries passengers from Leyden 
to Amsterdam, was putting off, a boy running along 15 
the side of the canal desired to be taken in: which 
the master of the boat refused, because the lad had 
not quite money enough to pay the usual fare. An 
eminent merchant being pleased with the looks of 
the boy, and secretly touched with compassion 20 
towards him, paid the money for him, and ordered 
him to be taken on board. Upon talking with him 
afterwards, he found that he could speak readily in 
three or four languages, and learned upon farther 
examination that he had been stolen away when he 25 
was a child by a gypsy, and had rambled ever since 
with a gang of those strollers up and down several 
parts of Europe. It happened that the merchant, 
whose heart seems to have inclined towards the boy 



164 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 25 

by a secret kind of instinct, had himself lost a child 
some years before. The parents, after a long search 
for him, gave him for drowned in one of the canals 
with which that country abounds; and the mother 
5 was so afflicted at the loss of a fine boy, who was her 
only son, that she died for grief of it. Upon laying 
together all particulars, and examining the several 
moles and marks by which the mother used to 
describe the child when he was first missing, the boy 

1° proved to be the son of the merchant, whose heart 
had so unaccountably melted at the sight of him. 
The lad was very well pleased to find a father who 
was so rich, and likely to leave him a good estate: 
the father on the other hand was not a little delighted 

15 to see a son return to him, whom he had given for 
lost, with such a strength of constitution, sharpness 
of understanding, and skill in languages." Here 
the printed story leaves off; but if I may give credit 
to reports, our linguist having received such extraor- 

20 dinary rudiments towards a good education, was 
afterwards trained up in everything that becomes 
a gentleman; wearing off by little and little all the 
vicious habits and practices that he had been used 
to in the course of his peregrinations. Nay, it is 

25 said, that he has since been employed in foreign 
courts upon national business, with great reputation 
to himself and honor to those who sent him, and 
that he has visited several countries as a public 
minister, in which he formerly wandered as a gypsy. 



No. 26] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 165 

No. 26. The Spectator's Repatation in the Country 

Spectator No. 131. Tuesday, July 31, 1711 

Ipsse rursum concedite sylvae.* 

Virg. Eel. x. 63. 

It is usual for a man who loves country sports to 
preserve the game in his own grounds, and divert 
himself upon those that belong to his neighbor. 
My friend Sir Roger generally goe^ two or three 
miles from his house, and gets into the frontiers of 5 
his estate, before he beats about in search of a hare 
or partridge, on purpose to spare his own fields, 
where he is always sure of finding diversion, w^hen 
the worst comes to the worst. By this means the 
breed about his house has time to increase and lo 
multiply, besides that the sport is the more agreeable 
where the game is the harder to come at, and where 
it does not lie so thick as to produce any perplexity 
or confusion in the pursuit. For these reasons the 
country gentleman, like the fox, seldom preys near 15 
his own home. 

In the same manner I have made a month's 
excursion out of the town, which is the great field 
of game for sportsmen of my species, to try my 
fortune in the country, where I have started several 20 
subjects, and hunted them down, with some pleasure 
to myself, and I hope to others. I am here forced 
to use a great deal of diligence before I can spring 



166 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 26 

anything to my mind, whereas in town, whilst I am 
following one character, it is ten to one but I 
am crossed in my way by another, and put up such 
a variety of odd creatures in both sexes, that they 
5 foil the scent of one another, and puzzle the chase. 
My greatest difficulty in the country is to find sport, 
and in town to choose it. In the meantime, as I 
have given a whole month's rest to the cities of 
London and Westminster, I promise myself abun- 

1° dance of new game upon my return thither. 

It is indeed high time for me to leave the country, 
since I find the whole neighborhood begin to grow 
very inquisitive after my name and character; my 
love of solitude, taciturnity, and particular way of 

15 life, having raised a great curiosity in all these parts. 

The notions which have been framed of me are 

various; some look upon me as very proud, some as 

very modest, and some as very melancholy. Will 

Wimble, as my friend the butler tells me, observing 

20 me very much alone, and extremely silent when I 
am in company, is afraid I have killed a man. The 
country people seem to suspect me for a conjurer; 
and some of them hearing of the visit which I made 
to Moll White, will needs have it that Sir Roger has 

25 brought down a cunning man with him to cure the 
old woman, and free the country from her charms. 
So that the character which I go under in part of 
the neighborhood, is what they here call & White 
Witch,2 



No. 26] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 167 

A justice of peace, who lives about five miles off, 
and is not of Sir Roger's party, has it seems said 
twice or thrice at his table, that he wishes Sir Roger 
does not harbor a Jesuit in his house, and that he 
thinks the gentlemen of the country would do very 5 
well to make me give some account of myself. 

On the other side, some of Sir Roger's friends are 
afraid the old knight is imposed upon by a designing 
fellow; and as they have heard that he converses 
very promiscuously when he is in town, do not 1° 
know but he has brought down with him some 
discarded Whig, that is sullen, and says nothing 
because he is out of place. 

Such is the variety of opinions which are here 
entertained of me, so that I pass among some for i5 
a disaffected person, and among others for a popish 
priest; among some for a wizard, and among others 
for a murderer; and all this for no other reason 
that I can imagine, but because I do not hoot, and 
halloo, and make a noise. It is true, my friend Sir 20 
Roger tells them, — "That it is my way," and that 
I am only a philosopher; but this will not satisfy 
them. They think there is more in me than he 
discovers, and that I do not hold my tongue for 
nothing. 25 

For these and other reasons I shall set out for 
London to-morrow, having found by experience that 
the country is not a place for a person of my temper, 
who does not love jollity, and what they call good 



168 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 26 

neighborhood. A man that is out of humor when 
an unexpected guest breaks in upon him, and does 
not care for sacrificing an afternoon to every chance- 
comer, that will be the master of his own time, and 

5 the pursuer of his own inclinations, makes but a 
very unsociable figure in this kind of life. I shall 
therefore retire into the town, if I may make use of 
that phrase, and get into the crowd again as fast as 
I can, in order to be alone. I can there raise what 

1° speculations I please upon others without being 
observed myself, and at the same time enjoy all 
the advantages of company, with all the privileges 
of solitude. In the meanwhile, to finish the month, 
and conclude these my rural speculations, I shall 

15 here insert a letter from my friend Will Honeycomb, 
who has not lived a month for these forty years out 
of the smoke of London, and rallies me after his 
way upon my country life. 

*' Dear Spec, 

20 " I suppose this letter will find thee picking of 
daisies, or smelling to a lock of hay, or passing 
away thy time in some innocent country diversion 
of the like nature. I have however orders from the 
club to summon thee up to town, being all of us 

25 cursedly afraid thou wilt not be able to relish our 
company, after thy conversations with Moll White, 
and Will Wimble. Pr'ythee do not send us any 
more stories of a cock and a bull, nor frighten the 



No. 27] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 169 

town with spirits and witches. Thy speculations 
begin to smell confoundedly of woods and meadows. 
If thou dost not come up quickly, we shall conclude 
that thou art in love with one of Sir Roger's dairy- 
maids. Service to the knight. Sir Andrew is 5 
grown the cock of the club since he left us, and if 
he does not return quickly will make every mother's 
son of us commonwealth's-men. 

" Dear Spec, 

" Thine eternally, lo 

" Will Honeycomb.'^ 



No. 27. In a Stage Coach 

Spectator No. 132. Wednesday, August 1, 1711 

Qui, aut tempus quid postulet non videt, aut plura lo- 
quitur, aut se ostentat, aut eorum quibuscum est rationem 
non habet, is ineptus esse dicitur.i — Tull. 

Having notified to my good friend Sir Roger 
that I should set out for London the next day, his 
horses were ready at the appointed hour in the 
evening; and, attended by one of his grooms, I ^5 
arrived at the county-town at twilight, in order to 
be ready for the stage-coach the day following. 
As soon as we arrived at the inn, the servant, who 
waited upon me, inquired of the chamberlain ^ in 
my hearing what company he had for the coach? 20 
The fellow answered, "Mrs.^ Betty Arable, the great 
fortune, and the widow her mother; a recruiting 



170 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 27 

officer, (who took a place because they were to go) 
young 'Squire Quickset, her cousin (that her mother 
wished her to be married to) ; Ephraim ^ the quaker, 
her guardian; and a gentleman that had studied 

5 himself dumb from Sir Roger de Coverley's." I 
observed by what he said of myself, that according 
to his office he dealt much in intelligence; and 
doubted not but there was some foundation for his 
reports of the rest of the company, as well as for 

lo the whimsical account he gave of me. The next 
morning at daybreak we were all called; and I who 
know my own natural shyness, and endeavor to be 
as little liable to be disputed with as possible, 
dressed immediately, that I might make no one 

15 wait. The first preparation for our setting out was, 
that the captain's half-pike ^ was placed near the 
coachman, and a drum behind the coach. In the 
meantime the drummer, the captain's equipage,® 
was very loud, "that none of the captain's things 

20 should be placed so as to be spoiled ; upon which his 
cloak-bag was fixed in the seat of the coach: and 
the captain himself, according to a frequent, though 
invidious ^ behavior of military men, ordered his 
man to look sharp, that none but one of the ladies 

25 should have the place he had taken fronting the 
coach-box. 

We were in some little time fixed in our seats, 
and sat with that dislike which people not too 
good-natured usually conceive of each other at first 



No. 27] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 171 

sight. The coach jumbled us insensibly into some 
sort of familiarity: and we had not moved above 
two miles, when the widow asked the captain what 
success he had in his recruiting? The officer, with 
a frankness he believed very graceful, told her, 5 
"that indeed he had but very little luck, and had 
suffered much by desertion, therefore should be glad 
to end his warfare in the service of her or her fair 
daughter. In a word," continued he, "I am a 
soldier, and to be plain is my character : you see me, 1° 
madam, young, sound, and impudent; take me 
yourself, widow, or give me to her; I will be wholly 
at your disposal. I am a soldier of fortune, ha!" — 
This was followed by a vain laugh of his own, and 
a deep silence of all the rest of the company. I had i5 
nothing left for it but to fall fast asleep, which I 
did with all speed. — "Come," said he, "resolve 
upon it, we will make a wedding at the next town: 
we will wake this pleasant companion who has 
fallen asleep, to be the brideman; and," giving the 20 
quaker a clap on the knee, he concluded, "This sly 
saint, who, I will warrant, understands what is what 
as well as you or I, widow, shall give the bride as 
father."" The quaker, who happened to be a man 
of smartness,® answered, " Friend, I take it in good 25 
part that thou hast given me the authority of a 
father over this comely and virtuous child; and I 
must assure thee, that if I have the giving her, I 
shall not bestow her on thee. Thy mirth, friend, 



172 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 27 

savoreth of folly: thou art a person of a light mind, 
thy drum is a type of thee, it soundeth because it is 
empty. Verily, it is not from thy fullness, but thy 
emptiness, that thou hast spoken this day. Friend, 

5 friend, we have hired this coach in partnership with 
thee, to carry us to the great city; we cannot go 
any other way. This worthy mother must hear 
thee, if thou wilt needs utter thy follies; we cannot 
help it, friend, I say: if thou wilt, we must hear thee; 

lo but if thou wert a man of understanding, thou 
wouldst not take advantage of thy courageous 
countenance to abash us children of peace. — Thou 
art, thou sayest, a soldier; give quarter to us, who 
cannot resist thee. Why didst thou fleer ^ at our 

15 friend, who feigned himself asleep? He said noth- 
ing; but how dost thou know what he containeth? 
If thou speakest improper things in the hearing of 
this virtuous young virgin, consider it as an outrage 
against a distressed person that cannot get from 

20 thee: to speak indiscreetly what we are obliged to 
hear, by being hasped ^^ up with thee in this public 
vehicle, is in some degree assaulting on the high 
road." 

Here Ephraim paused, and the captain with a 

25 happy and uncommon impudence (which can be 
convicted and support itself at the same time), 
cries, "Faith, friend, I thank thee; I should have 
been a little impertinent if thou hadst not repri- 
manded me. Come, thou art, I see, a smoky old 



No. 27] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 173 

fellow, and I will be very orderly the ensuing part 
of my journey. I was going to give myself airs, 
but, ladies, I beg pardon." 

The captain was so little out of humor, and our 
company was so far from being soured by this little 5 
ruffle, that Ephraim and he took a particular delight 
in being agreeable to each other for the future; and 
assumed their different provinces in the conduct of 
the company. Our reckonings, apartments, ^^ and 
accommodation, fell under Ephraim; and the cap- lo 
tain looked to all disputes upon the road,^^ as the 
good behavior of our coachman, and the right we 
had of taking place, as going to London, of all 
vehicles coming from thence. The occurrences we 
met wdth were ordinary, and very little happened ^5 
which could entertain by the relation of them: but 
when I considered the company we were in, I took 
it for no small good-fortune, that the whole journey 
was not spent in impertinences, which to one part 
of us might be an entertainment, to the other a 20 
suffering. What therefore Ephraim said when we 
were almost arrived at London, had to me an air 
not only of good understanding, but good breeding. 
Upon the young lady's expressing her satisfaction 
in the journey, and declaring how delightful it had 25 
been to her, Ephraim declared himself as follows: 
"There is no ordinary part of human life, which 
expresseth so much a good mind, and a right inward 
man, as his behavior upon meeting with strangers, 



174 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 28 

especially such as may seem the most unsuitable 
companions to him: such a man, when he falleth in 
the way with persons of simplicity and innocence, 
however knowing he may be in the ways of men, 

5 will not vaunt himself thereof, but will the rather 
hide his superiority to them, that he may not be 
painful unto them. My good friend,'' continued he, 
turning to the officer, "thee and I are to part by 
and by, and peradventure we may never meet 

lo again: but be advised by a plain man; modes and 
apparel are but trifles to the real man, therefore do 
not think such a man as thyself terrible for thy 
garb, nor such a one as me contemptible for mine 
When two such as thee and I meet, with affections 

15 as we ought to have towards each other, thou 
shouldst rejoice to see my peaceable demeanor, and 
I should be glad to see thy strength and ability to 
protect me in it." 



No. 28. Sir Andrew Freeport on Merchants 

Spectator No. 174. Wednesday, September 19, 1711 

Haec memini et victum frustra contendere Thyrsin.^ 

Virg. Eel. vii. 69. 

There is scarce anything more common than 

20 animosities between parties that cannot subsist but 

by their agreement: this was well represented in the 

sedition of the members of the human body in the 



No. 28] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 175 

old Roman fable. ^ It is often the case of lesser 
confederate states against a superior power, which 
are hardly held together, though their unanimity is 
necessary for their common safety; and this is 
always the case of the landed and trading interests 5 
of Great Britain: the trader is fed by the product 
of the land, and the landed man cannot be clothed 
but by the skill of the trader : and yet those interests 
are ever jarring. 

We had last winter an instance of this at our lo 
club, in Sir Roger de Coverley and Sir Andrew 
Freeport, between whom there is generally a con- 
stant, though friendly, opposition of opinions. It 
happened that one of the company, in an historical 
discourse, was observing, that Carthaginian faith ^ 15 
was a proverbial phrase to intimate breach of 
leagues. Sir Roger said it could hardly be other- 
wise: that the Carthaginians were the greatest 
traders in the world; and as gain is the chief end 
of such a people, they never pursue any other: the 20 
means to it are never regarded: they will, if it comes 
easily, get money honestly; but if not, they will not 
scruple to attain it by fraud, or cozenage: and 
indeed, what is the whole business of the trader's 
account,"* but to overreach him who trusts to his 25 
memory? But were not that so, what can there 
great and noble be expected from him whose atten- 
tion is ever fixed upon balancing his books, and 
watching over his expenses? And at best, let 



176 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 28 

frugality and parsimony be the virtues of the mer- 
chant, how much is his punctual dealing below a 
gentleman's charity to the poor, or hospitality 
among his neighbors? 

S Captain Sentry observed Sir Andrew very dili- 
gent in hearing Sir Roger, and had a mind to turn 
the discourse, by taking notice in general, from the 
highest to the lowest parts of human society, there 
was a secret, though unjust, way among men, of 

lo indulging the seeds of ill-nature and envy, by com- 
paring their own state of life to that of another, 
and grudging the approach of their neighbor to 
their own happiness; and on the other side, he, who 
is the less at his ease, repines at the other, who he 

15 thinks has unjustly the advantage over him. Thus 
the civil and military lists look upon each other 
with much ill-nature; the soldier repines at the 
courtier's power, and the courtier rallies the soldier's 
honor; or, to come to lower instances, the private 

20 men in the horse and foot of an army, the carmen 
and coachmen in the city streets, mutually look 
upon each other with ill-will, when they are in 
competition for quarters, or the way in their 
respective motions. 

25 "It is very well, good captain," interrupted Sir 
Andrew: "you may attempt to turn the discourse 
if you think fit; but I must however have a word 
or two with Sir Roger, who, I see, thinks he has 
paid me off, and been very severe upon the mer- 



No. 28] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 177 

chant. I shall not/' continued he, "at this time 
remind Sir Roger of the great and noble monuments 
of charity and public spirit, which have been erected 
by merchants since the reformation, but at present 
content myself with what he allows us, parsimony 5 
and frugality. If it were consistent with the quality 
of so ancient a baronet as Sir Roger, to keep an 
account, or measure things by the most infallible 
way, that of numbers, he would prefer our parsi- 
mony to his hospitality. If to drink so many 1° 
hogsheads is to be hospitable, we do not contend 
for the fame of that virtue; but it would be worth 
while to consider, whether so many artificers at 
work ten days together by my appointment, or so 
many peasants made merry on Sir Roger's charge, ^5 
are the men more obliged? I believe the families 
of the artificers ^ will thank me more than the 
household of the peasants shall Sir Roger. Sir 
Roger gives to his men, but I place mine above the 
necessity or obligation of my bounty. I am in 20 
very little pain for the Roman proverb upon the 
Carthaginian traders; the Romans were their pro- 
fessed enemies: I am only sorry no Carthaginian 
histories have come to our hands: we might have 
been taught perhaps by them some proverbs against 25 
the Roman generosity, in fighting for, and bestowing 
other people's goods. But since Sir Roger has taken 
occasion from an old proverb, to be out of humor 
with merchants, it should be no offence to offer one 



178 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 28 

not quite so old in their defence. When a man 
happens to break in Holland, they say of him that 
'he has not kept true accounts.' This phrase, per- 
haps among us, would appear a soft or humorous 

5 way of speaking, but with that exact nation it 
bears the highest reproach. For a man to be mis- 
taken in the calculation of his expense, in his ability 
to answer future demands, or to be impertinently ® 
sanguine in putting his credit to too great adventure, 

lo are all instances of as much infamy, as with gayer 
nations to be failing in courage, or common honesty. 
" Numbers are so much the measure of everything 
that is valuable, that it is not possible to demon- 
strate the success of any action, or the prudence of 

15 any undertaking, without them. I say this in 
answer to what Sir Roger is pleased to say, Hhat 
little that is truly noble can be expected from one 
who is ever poring on his cash-book, or balancing 
his accounts.' When I have my returns from 

20 abroad, I can tell to a shilling, by the help of num- 
bers, the profit or loss by my adventure; but I 
ought also to be able to show that I had reason for 
making it, either from my own experience, or that 
of other people, or from a reasonable presumption 

25 that my returns will be sufficient to answer my 
expense and hazard; and this is never to be done 
without the skill of numbers. For instance, if I 
am to trade to Turkey, I ought beforehand to know 
the demand of our manufactures there, as well as 



No. 28] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 179 

of their silks in England, and the customary prices 
that are given for both in each country. I ought 
to have a clear knowledge of these matters before- 
hand, that I may presume upon sufficient returns 
to answer the charge of the cargo I have fitted out, 5 
the freight and assurance ^ and home, the customs ^ 
to the queen, and the interest of my own money, 
and besides all these expenses a reasonable profit 
to myself. Now what is there of scandal in this 
skill? What has the merchant done, that he should lo 
be so little in the good graces of Sir Roger? He 
throws down no man's inclosures, and tramples 
upon no man's corn; he takes nothing from the 
industrious laborer; he pays the poor man for his 
work; he communicates his profit with mankind; i5 
by the preparation of his cargo, and the manufacture 
of his returns, he furnishes employment and sub- 
sistence to greater numbers than the richest noble- 
man; and even the nobleman is obliged to him for 
finding out foreign markets for the produce of his 20 
estate, and for making a great addition to his rents; 
and yet it is certain that none of all these things 
could be done by him without the exercise of his 
skill in numbers. 

"This is the economy of the merchant; and the 25 
conduct of the gentleman must be the same, unless 
by scorning to be the steward, he resolves the 
steward shall be the gentleman. The gentleman, 
no more than the merchant, is able, without the 



180 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 28 

help of numbers, to account for the success of any 
action, or the prudence of any adventure. If, for 
instance, the chase is his whole adventure, his only 
returns must be the stag's horns in the great hall, 

5 and the fox's nose upon the stable door. Without 
doubt Sir Roger knows the full value of these re- 
turns; and if beforehand he had computed the 
charges of the chase, a gentleman of his discretion 
would certainly have hanged up all his dogs: he 

lo would never have brought back so many fine horses 
to the kennel; he would never have gone so often, 
like a blast, over fields of corn. If such too had 
been the conduct of all his ancestors, he might truly 
have boasted at this day, that the antiquity of his 

IS family had never been sullied by a trade; a merchant 
had never been permitted with his whole estate to 
purchase a room for his picture in the gallery of 
the Coverleys, or to claim his descent from the 
maid of honor. But it is very happy for Sir Roger 

2o that the merchant paid so dear for his ambition. 
It is the misfortune of many other gentlemen to 
turn out of the seats of their ancestors, to make 
way for such new masters as have been more exact 
in their accounts than themselves; and certainly he 

25 deserves the estate a great deal better who has got 
it by his industry, than he who has lost it by his 
negligence." 



No. 29] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 181 

No. 29. The Cries of London 

Spectator No. 251. Tuesday, December 18, 1711 
Linguae centum sunt, oraque centum, 



Ferrea vox 1 

Virg. JEn. vi. 625. 

There is nothing which more astonishes a for- 
eigner, and frights a country squire, than the Cries 
of London. My good friend Sir Roger often de- 
clares that he cannot get them out of his head or 
go to sleep for them, the first week that he is in 5 
town. On the contrary, Will Honeycomb calls 
them the Ramage de la Villej^ and prefers them to 
the sound of larks and nightingales, with all the 
music of the fields and woods. I have lately re- 
ceived a letter from some very odd fellow upon this 10 
subject, which I shall leave with my reader, without 
saying anything further of it. 

"Sir, 

"I am a man out of all business, and would 
willingly turn my head to anything for an honest 15 
livelihood. I have invented several projects for 
raising many millions of money without burdening 
the subject, but I cannot get the parliament to 
listen to me, who look upon me, forsooth, as a 
crack,^ and a projector; so that despairing to enrich 20 
either myself or my country by this public-spirited- 



182 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 29 

ness, I would make some proposals to you relating 
to a design which I have very much at heart, and 
which may procure me a handsome subsistence, if 
you will be pleased to recommend it to the cities 

5 of London and Westminster. 

"The post I would aim at, is to be comptroller- 
general of the London Cries, which are at present 
under no manner of rules or discipline. I think I 
am pretty well qualified for this place, as being a 

lo man of very strong lungs, of great insight into all 
the branches of our British trades and manufactures, 
and of a competent skill in music. 

" The Cries of London may be divided into vocal 
and instrumental. As for the latter, they are at 

15 present under a very great disorder. A freeman of 
London has the privilege of disturbing a whole street 
for an hour together, with the twanking of a brass- 
kettle or a frying-pan. The watchman's thump at 
midnight startles us in our beds, as much as the 

20 breaking in of a thief. I would therefore propose, 
that no instrument of this nature should be made 
use of, which I have not tuned and licensed, after 
having carefully examined in what manner it may 
affect the ears of her majesty's liege subjects. 

25 "Vocal cries are of a much larger extent, and 
indeed so full of incongruities and barbarisms, that 
we appear a distracted city to foreigners, who do 
not comprehend the meaning of such enormous 
outcries. Milk is generally sold in a note above 



No. 29] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 183 

E-la/ and in sounds so exceeding shrill, that it 
often sets our teeth on edge. The chimney-sweeper 
is confined to no certain pitch; he sometimes utters 
himself in the deepest bass, and sometimes in the 
sharpest treble; sometimes in the highest, and some- 5 
times in the lowest note of the gamut. The same 
observation might be made on the retailers of small- 
coal, not to mention broken glasses, or brick-dust. 
In these therefore, and the like cases, it should 
be my care to sweeten and mellow the voices of lo 
these itinerant tradesmen, before they make their 
appearance in our streets, as also to accommodate 
their cries to their respective wares; and to take 
care in particular, that those may not make the 
most noise who have the least to sell, which is very iS 
observable in the venders of card-matches, to whom 
I cannot but apply the old proverb of 'Much cry 
but little woo.' 

"Some of these last mentioned musicians are so 
very loud in the sale of these trifling manufactures, 20 
that an honest splenetic gentleman of my acquaint- 
ance bargained with one of them never to come into 
the street where he lived. But what was the effect 
of this contract? why, the whole tribe of card-match- 
makers which frequent that quarter, passed by his 25 
door the very next day, in hopes of being bought 
off after the same manner. 

"It is another great imperfection in our London 
Cries, that there is no just time nor measure ob- 



184 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 29 

served in them. Our news should indeed be pub- 
lished in a very quick time, because it is a com- 
modity that will not keep cold. It should not, 
however, be cried with the same precipitation as 

5 fir^. Yet this is generally the case. A bloody 
battle alarms the town from one end to another in 
an instant. Every motion of the French is pub- 
lished in so great a hurry, that one would think the 
enemy were at our gates. This likewise I would 

lo take upon me to regulate in such a manner, that 
there should be some distinction made between the 
spreading of a victory, a march, or an encampment, 
a Dutch, a Portugal, or a Spanish mail. Nor must 
I omit under this head those excessive alarms with 

15 which several boisterous rustics infest our streets 
in turnip-season; and which are more inexcusable, 
because these are wares which are in no danger of 
cooling upon their hands. 

"There are others who affect a very slow time, 

20 and are in my opinion much more tunable than 
the former. The cooper in particular swells his 
last note in an hollow voice, that is not without its 
harmony; nor can I forbear being inspired with a 
most agreeable melancholy, when I hear that sad 

25 and solemn air with which the public are very often 
asked, if they have any chairs to mend? Your own 
memory may suggest to you many other lamentable 
ditties of the same nature, in which the music is 
wonderfully languishing and melodious. 



No. 29] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 185 

"I am always pleased with that particular time 
of the year which is proper for the pickling of dill 
and cucumbers; but alas! this cry, like the song of 
the nightingale, is not heard above two months. 
It would therefore be worth while to consider, 5 
whether the same air might not in some cases be 
adapted to other words. 

"It might likewise deserve our most serious con- 
sideration, how far, in a well regulated city, those 
humorists are to be tolerated, who, not contented i° 
with the traditional cries of their forefathers, have 
invented particular songs and tunes of their own: 
such as was, not many years since, the pastry-man 
commonly known by the name of the Colly-Molly- 
Puff,^ and such as is at this day the vender of ^5 
powder and wash-balls, who, if I am rightly informed, 
goes under the name of Powder-Watt. 

"I must not here omit one particular absurdity 
which runs through this whole vociferous genera- 
tion, and which renders their cries very often not 20 
only incommodious, but altogether useless to the 
public. I mean, that idle accomplishment which 
they all of them aim at, of crying so as not to be 
understood. Whether or no they have learned this 
from several of our affected singers, I will not take 25 
upon me to say; but most certain it is, that people 
know the wares they deal in rather by their tunes 
than by their words; insomuch that I have some- 
times seen a country boy run out to buy apples of 



186 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 29 

a bellows-mender, and gingerbread from a grinder 
of knives and scissors. Nay, so strangely infat- 
uated are some very eminent artists of this partic- 
ular grace in a cry, that none but their acquaintance 

5 are able to guess at their profession; for who else 
can know, that 'work if I had it,' should be the 
signification of a corn-cutter. 

"For as much therefore as persons of this rank 
are seldom men of genius or capacity, I think it 

lo would be very proper that some man of good sense 
and sound judgment should preside over these public 
cries, who should permit none to lift up their voices 
in our streets, that have not tunable throats, and 
are not only able to overcome the noise of the crowd, 

15 and the rattling of coaches, but also to vend their 
respective merchandises in apt phrases, and in the 
most distinct and agreeable sounds. I do therefore 
humbly recommend myself as a person rightly 
qualified for this post; and if I meet with fitting 

20 encouragement, shall communicate some other pro- 
jects which I have by me, that may no less conduce 
to the emolument of the public. 

"I am, Sir, &c. 

" Ralph Crotchet." 



No. 30] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 187 

No. 30. A Walk with Sir Roger 

Spectator No. 269. Tuesday, January 8, 1711-12 
^vo rarissima nostro 



Simplicitas ^ 

Ovid. Ars. Am. Lib. i. 241. 

I WAS this morning surprised with a great knock- 
ing at the door, when my landlady's daughter came 
up to me and told me that there was a man below 
desired to speak with me. Upon my asking her 
who it was, she told me it was a very grave elderly 5 
person, but that she did not know his name. I 
immediately went down to him, and found him to 
be the coachman of my worthy friend Sir Roger de 
Coverley. He told me that his master came to 
town last night, and would be glad to take a turn 10 
with me in Gray's-inn walks. As I was wondering 
with myself what had brought Sir Roger to town, not 
having lately received any letter from him, he told 
me that his master was come up to get a sight of 
Prince Eugene,^ and that he desired I would imme- 15 
diately meet him. 

I was not a little pleased with the curiosity of the 
old knight, though I did not much wonder at it, 
having heard him say more than once in private 
discourse, that he looked upon Prince Eugenio (for 20 
so the knight always calls him) to be a greater man 
than Scanderbeg.^ 



188 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 30 

I was no sooner come into Gray's-inn walks, but 
I heard my friend upon the terrace hemming twice 
or thrice to himself with great vigor, for he loves to 
clear his pipes in good air (to make use of his own 

5 phrase) and is not a little pleased with any one 
who takes notice of the strength which he still 
exerts in his morning hems. 

I was touched with a secret joy at the sight of 
the good old man, who before he saw me was en- 

lo gaged in conversation with a beggar-man that had 
asked an alms of him. I could hear my friend 
chide him for not finding out some work; but at 
the same time saw him put his hand in his pocket 
and give him sixpence. 

15 Our salutations were very hearty on both sides, 
consisting of many kind shakes of the hand, and 
several affectionate looks which we cast upon one 
another. After which the knight told me my good 
friend his chaplain was very well, and much at my 

20 service, and that the Sunday before he had made a 
most incomparable sermon out of Dr. Barrow.^ " I 
have left,'' says he, "all my affairs in his hands, 
and being willing to lay an obligation upon him, 
have deposited with him thirty marks, to be dis- 

25 tributed among his poor parishioners." 

He then proceeded to acquaint me with the 
welfare of Will Wimble. Upon which he put his 
hand into his fob and presented me in his name 
with a tobacco-stopper, telling me that Will had 



No. 30] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 189 

been busy all the beginning of the winter in turning 
great quantities of them; and that he made a present 
of one to every gentleman in the country who has 
good principles, and smokes. He added, that poor 
Will was at present under great tribulation, for 5 
that Tom Touchy had taken the law of him for 
cutting some hazel sticks out of one of his hedges. 

Among other pieces of news which the knight 
brought from his country-seat, he informed me that 
Moll White was dead, and that about a month after lo 
her death the wind was so very high, that it blew 
down the end of one of his barns. " But for my 
own part," says Sir Roger, " I do not think that the 
old woman had any hand in it." 

He afterwards fell into an account of the diver- 15 
sions which had passed in his house during the 
holidays; for Sir Roger, after the laudable custom 
of his ancestors, always keeps open house at Christ- 
mas. I learned from him that he had killed eight 
fat hogs for this season, that he had dealt about 20 
his chines very liberally amongst his neighbors, and 
that in particular he had sent a string of hogs'- 
puddings ^ with a pack of cards to every poor 
family in the parish. " I have often thought," says 
Sir Roger, " it happens very well that Christmas 25 
should fall out in the middle of winter. It is the 
most dead uncomfortable time of the year, when 
the poor people would suffer very much from their 
poverty and cold, if they had not good cheer, warm 



190 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 30 

fires, and Christmas gambols to support them. I 
love to rejoice their poor hearts at this season, and 
to see the whole village merry in my great hall. 
I allow a double quantity of malt to my small-beer, 

5 and set it a running for twelve days to every one 
that calls for it. I have always a piece of cold 
beef and a mince-pie upon the table, and am won- 
derfully pleased to see my tenants pass away a 
whole evening in playing their innocent tricks, and 

lo smutting ^ one another. Our friend Will Wimble 
is as merry as any of them, and shows a thousand 
roguish tricks upon these occasions." 

I was very much delighted with the reflection of 
my old friend, which carried so much goodness in 

15 it. He then launched out into the praise of the 
late act ^ of parliament for securing the church of 
England, and told me with great satisfaction, that 
he believed it already began to take effect, for that 
a rigid dissenter who chanced to dine at his house 

20 on Christmas-day, had been observed to eat very 
plentifully of his plum-porridge. 

After having despatched all our country matters. 
Sir Roger made several inquiries concerning the 
club, and particularly of his old antagonist Sir 

25 Andrew Freeport. He asked me with a kind smile, 
whether Sir Andrew had not taken the advantage 
of his absence, to vent among them some of his 
republican doctrines; but soon after gathering up 
his countenance into a more than ordinary serious- 



No. 30] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 191 

ness, "Tell me truly/' says he, "do not you think 
Sir Andrew had a hand in the pope's procession?" ^ 
— But without giving me time to answer him, 
"Well, well," says he, "I know you are a wary 
man, and do not care to talk of public matters^" 5 

The knight then asked me, if I had seen Prince 
Eugenio, and made me promise to get him a stand 
in some convenient place where he might have a 
full sight of that extraordinary man, whose presence 
did so much honor to the British nation. He dwelt lo 
very long on the praises of this great general, and 
I found that since I was with him in the country, 
he had drawn many observations together out of 
his reading in Baker's Chronicle ^ and other authors, 
who always lie in his hall window, which very much is 
redound to the honor of this prince. 

Having passed away the greatest part of the 
morning in hearing the knight's reflections, which 
were partly private and partly political, he asked 
me if I would smoke a pipe with him over a dish 20 
of coffee at Squires's? ^^ As I love the old man, I 
take delight in complying with everything that is 
agreeable to him, and accordingly waited on him 
to the coffee-house, where his venerable figure drew 
upon us the eyes of the whole room. He had no 25 
sooner seated himself at the upper end of the high 
table, but he called for a clean pipe, a paper of 
tobacco, a dish of coffee, a wax candle, and the 
Supplement, ^^ with such an air of cheerfulness and 



192 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 31 

good-humor, that all the boys in the coffee-room 
(who seemed to take pleasure in serving him) were 
at once employed on his several errands, insomuch 
that nobody else could come at a dish of tea, until 
the knight had got all his conveniences about him. 



No. 31. Pin Money 

Spectator No. 295. Thursday, February 7, 1711-12 

Prodiga non sentit pereuntem foemina censum: 
At velut exhausta redivivus pullulet area 
Nummus, et e pleno semper tollatur acervo, 
Non unquam reputat, quanti sibi guadia constant. ^ 

Juv. Sat. vi. 361. 

"Mr. Spectator, 

"I AM turned of my great climacteric,^ and am 
naturally a man of a meek temper. About a dozen 
years ago I was married, for my sins, to a young 

lo woman of a good family, and of an high spirit; but 
could not bring her to close with me, before I had 
entered into a treaty with her longer than that of 
the grand alliance.^ Among other articles, it was 
there instipulated, that she should have 400 1. a 

15 year for pin-money, which I obliged myself to pay 
quarterly into the hands of one, who acted as her 
plenipotentiary in that affair. I have ever since 
religiously observed my part in this solemn agree- 
ment. Now, sir, so it is, that the lady has had 

20 several children since I married her. The education 



No. 31] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 193 

of these my children, straitens me so much, that I 
have begged their motlier to free me from the obHga- 
tion of the above-mentioned pin-money, that it may 
go towards making a provision for her family. This 
proposal makes her noble blood swell in her veins, 5 
insomuch, that finding me a little tardy in my last 
quarter's payment, she threatens me every day to 
arrest me; and proceeds so far as to tell me, that if 
I do not do her justice, I shall die in a jail. To this 
she adds, when her passion will let her argue calmly, lo 
that she has several play-debts on her hand, which 
must be discharged very suddenly, and that she 
cannot lose her money as becomes a woman of her 
fashion, if she makes me any abatement in this 
article. I hope, sir, you will take an occasion from 15 
hence to give your opinion upon a subject which 
you have not yet touched, and inform us if there 
are any precedents for this usage, among our ances- 
tors ; or whether you find any mention of pin-money 
in Grotius, Puffendorf,^ or any other of the civilians.^ 20 
"I am ever the humblest of your admirers, 

" JosiAH Fribble, Esq." 

As there is no man living who is a more professed 
advocate for the fair sex than myself, so there is 
none that would be more unwilling to invade any 25 
of their ancient rights and privileges; but as the 
doctrine of pin-money is of a late date, unknown to 
our great grandmothers, and not yet received by 



194 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 31 

many of our modern ladies, I think it is for the 
interest of both sexes to keep it from spreading. 

We may, indeed, generally observe, that in pro- 
portion as a woman is more or less beautiful, and 

5 her husband advanced in years, she stands in need 
of a greater or less number of pins, and upon a 
treaty of marriage, rises or falls in her demands 
accordingly. It must likewise be owned, that high 
quality in a mistress does very much inflame this 

lo article in the marriage-reckoning. 

But where the age and circumstances of both 
parties are pretty much upon a level, I cannot but 
think the insisting upon pin-money is very extraor- 
dinary; and yet we find several matches broken 

15 off upon this very head. What would a foreigner, 
or one who is a stranger to this practice, think of a 
lover that forsakes his mistress, because he is not 
willing to keep her in pins? But what would he 
think of the mistress, should he be informed that 

20 she asks five or six hundred pounds a year for this 
use? Should a man unacquainted with our customs 
be told the sums which are allowed in Great Britain, 
under the title of pin-money, what a prodigious 
consumption of pins would he think there was in 

25 this island. " A pin a day,'' says our frugal proverb, 
"is a groat a year"; so that, according to this 
calculation, my friend Fribble's wife must every 
year make use of eight millions six hundred and 
forty thousand new pins. 



No. 31] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 195 

I am not ignorant that our British ladies allege 
they comprehend under this general term, several 
other conveniences of life; I could therefore wish, 
for the honor of my countrywomen, that they had 
rather called it needle-money, which might have 5 
implied something of good housewifery, and not 
have given the malicious world occasion to think, 
that dress and trifles have always the uppermost 
place in a woman's thoughts. 

I know several of my fair readers urge, in defence ^° 
of this practice, that it is but a necessary provision 
they make for themselves, in case their husband 
proves a churl, or a miser; so that they consider 
this allowance as a kind of alimony, which they 
may lay their claim to, without actually separating ^5 
from their husbands. But with submission, I think 
a woman who will give up herself to a man in 
marriage, where there is the least room for such an 
apprehension, and trust her person to one whom 
she will not rely on for the common necessaries of ^4_ 
life, may very properly be accused (in the phrase 
of an homely proverb) of being "penny wise and 
pound foolish.'' 

It is observed of over-cautious generals, that they 
never engage in a battle without securing a retreat, 25 
in case the event should not answer their expecta- 
tions; on the other hand, the greatest conquerors 
have burnt their ships, or broke down the bridges 
behind them, as being determined either to succeed 



196 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 31 

or die in the engagement. In the same manner I 
should very much suspect a woman who takes such 
precautions for her retreat, and contrives methods 
how she may Hve happily, without the affection of 

5 one to whom she joins herself for life. A marriage 
cannot be happy, where the pleasures, inclinations, 
and interests of both parties are not the same. 
There is no greater incitement to love in the mind 
of man, than the sense of a person's depending upon 

lo him for her ease and happiness; as a woman uses 
all her endeavors to please the person whom she 
looks upon as her honor, her comfort, and her 
support. 

For this reason I am not very much surprised at 

15 the behavior of a rough country 'squire, who, being 
not a little shocked at the proceeding of a young 
widow that would not recede from her demands of 
pin-money, was so enraged at her mercenary temper, 
that he told her in great wrath, "As much as she 

20 thought him her slave, he would show all the world 
he did not care a pin for her." Upon which he flew 
out of the room, and never saw her more. 

Socrates in Plato's Alcibiades ^ says, he was in- 
formed by one who had traveled through Persia, 

25 that as he passed over a great tract of land, and 
inquired what the name of the place was, they told 
him it was the Queen's GiMle: to which he adds, 
that another wide field which lay by it, was called 
the Queen's Veil; and that in the same manner 



No. 31] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 197 

there was a large portion of ground set aside for 
every part of her majesty's dress. These lands 
might not be improperly called the Queen of Persia's 
pin-money . 

I remember my friend Sir Roger, who, I dare say, 5 
never read this passage in Plato, told me some time 
since, that upon his courting the perverse widow 
(of whom I have given an account in former papers) 
he had disposed of an hundred acres in a diamond 
ring, which he would have presented her with, had i° 
she thought fit to accept it: and that upon her 
wedding-day, she should have carried on her head 
fifty of the tallest oaks upon his estate. He further 
informed me, that he would have given her a coal-pit 
to keep her in clean linen, that he would have ^5 
allowed her the profits of a wind-mill for her fans, 
and have presented her once in three years, with 
the shearing of his sheep for her under-petticoats. 
To which the knight always adds, that though he 
did not care for fine clothes himself, there should 20 
not have been a woman in the country better 
dressed than my lady Coverley. Sir Roger, perhaps, 
may in this, as well as in many other of his devices, 
appear something odd and singular; but if the 
humor of pin-money prevails, I think it would be 25 
very proper for every gentleman of an estate, to 
mark out so many acres of it under the title of 
"The Pins." 




SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 32 

No. 32. Sir Roger in Westminster Abbey 

Spectator No. 329. Tuesday, March 18, 1711-12 

Ire tamen restat, Numo qua devenit et Ancus.^ 

Hor. Ep. vi. Lib. 1.27. 

My friend Sir Roger de Coverley told me t/other 
night, that he had been reading my paper upon 
Westminster Abbey, in which, says he, there are a 
great many ingenious fancies. He told me at the 

5 same time, that he observed I had promised another 
paper upon the tombs, and that he should be glad 
to go and see them with me, not having visited 
them since he had read history. I could not imagine 
how this came into the knight's head, till I recol- 

lo lected that he had been very busy all last summer 
upon Baker's Chronicle, which he has quoted sev- 
eral times in his disputes with Sir Andrew Freeport 
since his last coming to town. Accordingly I 
promised to call upon him the next morning, that 

15 we might go together to the abbey. 

I found the knight under his butler's hands, who 
always shaves him. He was no sooner dressed, 
than he called for a glass of the widow Truby's 
water,^ which he told me he always drank before 

20 he went abroad. He recommended to me a dram 
of it at the same time, with so much heartiness, that 
I could not forbear drinking it. As soon as I had 
got it down, I found it very unpalatable ; upon which 



No. 32] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 199 

the knight, observing that I had made several wry- 
faces, told me that he knew I should not like it at 
first, but that it was the best thing in the world 
against the stone or gravel. 

I could have wished indeed that he had acquainted 5 
me with the virtues of it sooner; but it was too late 
to complain, and I knew^ what he had done was out 
of good will. Sir Roger told me further, that he 
looked upon it to be very good for a man whilst he 
staid in town, to keep off infection, and that he got lo 
together a quantity of it upon the first news of the 
sickness ^ being at Dantzig: when of a sudden 
turning short to one of his servants, who stood 
behind him, he bid him call a hackney-coach, and 
take care it was an elderly man that drove it. 15 

He then resumed his discourse upon Mrs. Truby's 
water, telling me that the widow Truby was one 
who did more good than all the doctors and apothe- 
caries in the country; that she distilled every poppy 
that grew within five miles of her; that she distrib- 20 
uted her water gratis among all sorts of people: to 
which the knight added that she had a very great 
jointure, and that the whole country would fain 
have it a match between him and her; "and truly," 
says Sir Roger, " If I had not been engaged, perhaps 25 
I could not have done better." 

His discourse was broken off by his man's telling 
him he had called a coach. Upon our going to it, 
after having cast his eye upon the wheels, he asked 



200 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 32 

the coachman if his axle-tree was good: upon the 
fellow's telling him he would w^arrant it, the knight 
turned to me, told me he looked like an honest man, 
and went in without further ceremony. 

5 We had not gone far, when Sir Roger, popping 
out his head, called the coachman down from his 
box, and, upon presenting himself at the window, 
asked him if he smoked. As I was considering what 
this would end in, he bid him stop by the way at 

lo any good tobacconist's, and take in a roll of their 
best Viiginia. Nothing material happened in the 
remaining part of our journey, till we were set down 
at the west end of the abbey. 

As we went up the body of the church, the knight 

15 pointed at the trophies upon one of the new monu- 
ments, and cry'd out, "A brave man, I warrant 
him ! " Passing afterwards by Sir Cloud esley Shovel, 
he flung his hand that way, and cried " Sir Cloudesley 
Shovel! ^ a very gallant man." As we stood before 

20 Busby's tomb, the knight uttered himself again 
after the same manner: " Dr. Busby! ^ a great man: 
he whipped my grandfather; a very great man! 
I should have gone to him myself, if I had not been 
a blockhead: a very great man!" 

25 We were immediately conducted into the little 
chapel on the right hand. Sir Roger, planting him- 
self at our historian's elbow, was very attentive to 
everything he said, particularly to the account he 
gave us of the lord who had cut off the king of 



No. 32] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 201 

Morocco's head. Among several other figures, he 
was very well pleased to see the statesman Cecil 
upon his knees; and concluding them all to be great 
men, was conducted to the figure which represents 
that martyr to good housewifery who died by the 5 
prick of a needle.^ Upon our interpreter's telling 
us that she was a maid of honor to Queen Eliza- 
beth, the knight was very inquisitive into her 
name and family; and, after having regarded her 
finger for some time, "I wonder," says he, "that^o 
Sir Richard Baker has said nothing of her in his 
Chronicle." 

We were then conveyed to the two coronation 
chairs,- where my old friend, after having heard that 
the stone underneath the most ancient of them, ^5 
which was brought from Scotland, was called Jacob's 
pillar, sat himself down in the chair, and, looking 
like the figure of an old Gothic king, asked our 
interpreter, what authority they had to say that 
Jacob had ever been in Scotland? The fellow, in- 20 
stead of returning him an answer, told him, that he 
hoped his honor would pay his forfeit. I could 
observe Sir Roger a little ruffled upon being thus 
trepanned; but our guide not insisting upon his 
demand, the knight soon recovered his good humor, 25 
and whispered in my ear, that if Will Wimble were 
with us, and saw those two chairs, it would go hard 
but he would get a tobacco stopper out of one or 
t'other of them. 



202 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 32 

Sir Roger, in the next place, laid his hand upon 
Edward the Third's sword, and, leaning upon the 
pommel of it, gave us the whole history of the 
Black Prince; concluding, that, in Sir Richard 

5 Baker's opinion, Edward the Thu'd was one of the 
greatest princes that ever sat upon the English 
throne. 

We were then shown Edward the Confessor's 
tomb; upon which Sir Roger acquainted us, that he 

lo was the first who touched for the evil : and afterwards 
Henry the Fourth's;. upon which he shook his head, 
and told us there was fine reading in the casualties 
of that reign. 

Our conductor then pointed to that monument 

15 where there is a figure of one of our English kings 
without a head ; ^ and upon giving us to know, that 
the head, which was of beaten silver, had been stolen 
away several years since; "Some whig, I'll warrant 
you," says Sir Roger; "you ought to lock up your 

20 kings better; they will carry off the body too, if you 
don't take care." 

The glorious names of Henry the Fifth and Queen 
Elizabeth gave the knight great opportunities of 
shining, and of doing justice to Sir Richard Baker, 

25 who, as our knight observed with some surprise, 
had a great many kings in him, whose monuments 
he had not seen in the abbey. 

For my own part, I could not but be pleased to 
see the knight show such an honest passion for the 



No. 33] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 203 

glory of his country, and such a respectful gratitude 
to the memory of its princes. 

I must not omit, that the benevolence of my good 
old friend, which flows out towards every one he 
converses with, made him very kind to our inter- 5 
preter, whom he looked upon as an extraordinary 
man: for which reason he shook him by the hand at 
parting, telling him, that he should be very glad to 
see him at his lodgings in Norfolk Buildings, and 
talk over these matters with him more at leisure. ^° 



No. 33. Sir Roger and Beards 

Spectator No. 331. Thursday, March 20, 1712 

Stolidam praebet tibi vellere barbam.^ 

Pers. Sat. ii. 28. 

When I was last with my friend Sir Roger in 
Westminster Abbey, I observed that he stood longer 
than ordinary before the bust of a venerable old 
man. I w^as at a loss to guess the reason of it; 
when, after some time, he pointed to the figure, 15 
and asked me if I did not think that our forefathers 
looked much wiser in their beards than we do 
without them? "For my part," says he, "when I 
am walking in my gallery in the country, and see 
my ancestors, who many of them died before they 20 
were of my age, I cannot forbear regarding them as 
so many old patriarchs, and, at the same time, 



204 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 33 

looking upon myself as an idle smock-faced young 
fellow. I love to see your Abrahams, your Isaacs, 
and your Jacobs, as we have them in old pieces of 
tapestry, with beards below their girdles, that cover 

5 half the hangings." The knight added, "if I would 
recommend beards in one of my papers, and en- 
deavor to restore human faces to their ancient 
dignity, that, upon a month's warning, he would 
undertake to lead up the fashion himself in a pair 

lo of whiskers." 

I smiled at my friend's fancy; bvit, after we 
parted, could not forbear reflecting on the meta- 
morphosis our faces have undergone in this par- 
ticular. 

15 The beard, conformable to the notion of my 
friend Sir Roger, was for many ages looked upon 
as the type of wisdom. Lucian ^ more than once 
rallies the philosophers of his time, who endeavored 
to rival one another in beards; and represents a 

20 learned man who stood for a professorship in philos- 
ophy, as unqualified for it by the shortness of his 
beard. 

^lian,^ in his account of Zoilus, the pretended 
critic, who wrote against Homer and Plato, and 

25 thought himself wiser than all who had gone before 
him, tells us that this Zoilus had a very long beard 
that hung down upon his breast, but no hair upon 
his head, which he always kept close shaved, re- 
garding, it seems, the hairs of his head as so many 



No. 33] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 205 

suckers, which, if they had been suffered to grow, 
might have drawn away the nourishment from his 
chin, and' by that means have starved his beard. 

I have read somewhere, that one of the popes 
refused to accept an edition of a saint's works, 5 
which were presented to him, because the saint, in 
his effigies before the book, was drawn without a 
beard. 

We see by these instances what homage the world 
has formerly paid to beards; and that a barber was lo 
not then allowed to make those depredations on 
the faces of the learned, which have been permitted 
him of late years. 

Accordingly several wise nations have been so 
extremely jealous of the least ruffle offered to their i5 
beards, that they seem to have fixed the point of 
honor principally in that part. The Spaniards were 
wonderfully tender in this particular. Don Que- 
vedo,^ in his third vision on the last judgment, has 
carried the humor very far, when he tells us that 20 
one of his vain-glorious countrymen, after having 
received sentence, was taken into custody by a 
couple of evil spirits; but that his guides happening 
to disorder his mustaches, they were forced to 
recompense them with a pair of curling-irons before 25 
they could get him to file off. 

If we look into the history of our own nation, 
we shall find that the beard flourished in the Saxon 
heptarchy,^ but was very much discouraged under 



206 SIR ROGER D2 COVERLET PAPERS [No. 33 

the Norman line. It shot out, however, from time 
to time, in several reigns under different shapes. 
The last effort it made seems to have been in Queen 
Mary's days, as the curious reader may find, if he 

5 pleases to peruse the figures of Cardinal Pole and 
Bishop Gardiner; though, at the same time, I think 
it may be questioned, if zeal against popery has 
not induced our protestant painters to extend the 
beards of these two persecutors beyond their natural 

lo dimensions, in order to make them appear the more 
terrible. 

I find but few beards worth taking notice of in 
the reign of King James the First. 

During the civil wars there appeared one, which 

15 makes too great a figure in story to be passed over 
in silence; I mean that of the redoubted Hudibras, 
an account of which Butler ^ has transmitted to 
posterity in the following lines: 

"His tawny beard was th' equal grace 
Both of his wisdom and his face; 
In cut and dye so like a tile, 
A sudden view it would beguile: 
The upper part thereof was whey, 
The nether orange mixt with grey." 

The whisker continued for some time among us 

20 after the expiration of beards; but this is a subject 

which I shall not here enter upon, having discussed 

it at large in a distinct treatise, which I keep by me 

in manuscript, upon the mustache. 



No. 34] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 207 

If m)^ friend Sir Roger's project of introducing 
beards should take effect, I fear the luxury of the 
present age would make it a very expensive fashion. 
There is no question but the beaux would soon 
provide themselves with false ones of the lightest 5 
colors, and the most immoderate lengths. A fair 
beard of the tapestry size, which Sir Roger seems 
to approve, could not come under twenty guineas. 
The famous golden beard of ^Esculapius ^ would 
hardly be more valuable than one made in the ^o 
extravagance of the fashion. 

Besides, we are not certain that the ladies would 
not come into the mode, when they take the air on 
horseback. They already appear in hats and 
feathers, coats and periwigs; and I see no reason 1 5 
why we may not suppose that they would have 
their riding-beards on the same occasion. 

N. B. I may give the moral of this discourse in 
another paper. 

yy No. 34. Sir Roger at the Play 
Spectator No. 335. Tuesdaij, March 25, 1711-12 

Respicere exemplar vitse morumque jiibebo 
Doctum imitatorem et veras hinc ducere voces. ^ 

Hor. Ars. Poet. 327. 

« 

My friend Sir Roger de Coverley, w^hen we last 2c 
met together at the club, told me that he had a 
great mind to see the new tragedy ^ with me, assur- 



208 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 34 

ing me at the same time, that he had not been at a 
play these twenty years. "The last I saw/' said 
Sir Roger, "was The Committee,^ which I should 
not have gone to neither, had not I been told be- 

5 forehand that it was a good church of England 
comedy." He then proceeded to inquire of me who 
this Distressed Mother ^ was ; and upon hearing that 
she was Hector's widow, he told me that her husband 
was a brave man, and that when he was a schoolboy 

lo he had read his life at the end of the dictionary. 
My friend asked me in the next place, if there would 
not be some danger in coming home late, in case the 
Mohocks ^ should be abroad. " I assure you," says 
he, "I thought I had fallen into their hands last 

15 night; for I observed two or three lusty black men 
that followed me half way up Fleet Street, and 
mended their pace behind me, in proportion as I 
put on to get away from them. You must know," 
continued the knight with a smile, "I fancied they 

20 had a mind to hunt me; for I remember an honest 
gentleman in my neighborhood, who was served 
such a trick in King Charles the Second's time, for 
which reason he has not ventured himself in town 
ever since. I might have shown them very good 

25 sport, had this been their design; for, as I am an 
old fox-hunter, I should have turned and dodged, 
and have played them a thousand tricks they had 
never seen in their lives before." Sir Roger added, 
that "if these gentlemen had any such intention, 



No. 34] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 209 

they did not succeed very well in it; for I threw 
them out," says he, "at the end of Norfolk Street, 
where I doubled the corner, and got shelter in my 
lodgings before they could imagine what was become 
of me. However," says the knight, "if Captain 5 
Sentry will make one with us to-morrow night, and 
you will both of you call upon me about four o'clock, 
that we may be at the house before it is full, I will 
have my own coach in readiness to attend you, for 
John tells me he has got the fore-wheels mended." lo 

The captain, who did not fail to meet me there 
at the appointed hour, bid Sir Roger fear nothing, 
for that he had put on the same sword which he 
made use of at the battle of Steenkirk.® Sir Roger's 
servants, and among the rest my old friend the i5 
butler, had, I found, provided themselves with good 
oaken plants, to attend their master upon this 
occasion. When we had placed him in his coach, 
with myself at his left hand, the captain before him, 
and his butler at the head of his footmen in the rear, 20 
we convoyed him in safety to the playhouse, where, 
after having marched up the entry in good order, 
the captain and I went in with him, and seated him 
betwixt us in the pit. As soon as the house was 
full, and the candles lighted, my old friend stood 25 
up, and looked about him with that pleasure which 
a mind seasoned with humanity naturally feels in 
itself, at the sight of a multitude of people who 
seem pleased with one another, and partake of the 



210 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 34 

same common entertainment. I could not but 
fancy to myself, as the old man stood up in the 
middle of the pit, that he made a very proper center 
to a tragic audience. Upon the entering of Pyrrhus, 

5 the knight told me, that he did not believe the king 
of France himself had a better strut. I was indeed 
very attentive to my old friend's remarks, because 
I looked upon them as a piece of natural criticism, 
and was well pleased to hear him, at the conclusion 

lo of almost every scene, telling me that he could not 
imagine how the play would end. One while he 
appeared much concerned for Andromache; and a 
little while after as much for Hermione; and was 
extremely puzzled to think what would become of 

15 Pyrrhus. 

When Sir Roger saw Andromache's obstinate 
refusal to her lover's importunities, he whispered 
me in the ear, that he was sure she would never 
have him; to which he added, with a more than 

20 ordinary vehemence, "You can't imagine, sir, what 
it is to have to do with a widow." Upon Pyrrhus's 
threatening afterwards to leave her, the knight 
shook his head, and muttered to himself, "Ay, do 
if you can." This part dwelt so much upon my 

25 friend's imagination, that at the close of the third 
act, as I was thinking of something else, he whis- 
pered me in my ear, "These widows, sir, are the 
most perverse creatures in the world. But pray," 
says he, "you that are a critic, is the play according 



I 



No. 34] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 211 

to your dramatic rules, as you call them? Should 
your people in tragedy always talk to be under- 
stood? Why, there is not a single sentence in this 
play that I do not know the meaning of." 

The fourth act very luckily began before I had 5 
time to give the old gentleman an answer. " Well/' 
says the knight, sitting down with great satisfac- 
tion, " I suppose we are now to see Hector's ghost." 
He then renewed his attention, and, from time to 
time, fell a praising the widow. He made, indeed, lo 
a little mistake as to one of her pages, whom at his 
entering he took for Astyanax; but quickly set 
himself right in that particular, though, at the same 
time, he owned he should have been very glad to 
have seen the little boy, who, says he, must needs be is 
a very fine child by the account that is given of 
him. Upon Hermione's going off with a menace to 
Pyrrhus, the audience gave a loud clap, to which 
Sir Roger added, "On my word, a notable young 
baggage!" 20 

As there was a very remarkable silence and still- 
ness in the audience during the w^hole action, it was 
natural for them to take the opportunity of the 
intervals between the acts to express their opinion 
of the players, and of their respective parts. Sir 25 
Roger, hearing a cluster of them praise Orestes, 
struck in with them, and told them, that he thought 
his friend Pylades was a very sensible man. As 
they were afterwards applauding Pyrrhus, Sir Roger 



212 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 34 

put in a second time. "And let me tell you/' says 
he, "though he speaks but little, I like the old 
fellow in whiskers as well as any of them." Captain 
Sentry, seeing two or three wags who sat near us 

5 lean with an attentive ear towards Sir Roger, and 
fearing lest they should smoke ^ the knight, plucked 
him by the elbow, and whispered something in his 
ear, that lasted till the opening of the fifth act. 
The knight was wonderfully attentive to the account 

lo which Orestes gives of Pyrrhus's death, and at the 
conlcusion of it, told me it was such a bloody piece 
of work, that he was glad it was not done upon the 
stage. Seeing afterwards Orestes in his raving fit, 
he grew more than ordinarily serious, and took 

15 occasion to moralize (in his way) upon an evil 
conscience, adding, that Orestes, in his madness, 
looked as if he saw something. 

As we were the first that came into the house, 
so we were the last that went out of it; being re- 

20 solved to have a clear passage for our old friend, 
whom we did not care to venture among the justling 
of the crowd. Sir Roger went out fully satisfied 
with his entertainment, and we guarded him to his 
lodging in the same manner that we brought him 

25 to the playhouse; being highly pleased for my own 
part, not only with the performance of the excellent 
piece which had been presented, but with the 
satisfaction which it had given to the old man. 



No. 35] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 213 

No. 35. Epilogues 

Spectator No. 338. Friday, March 28, 1712 
Nil fuit unquam 



Tarn dispar sibi. 



Hot. Sat. iii. Lib. 1. 18. 



I FIND the tragedy of the Distressed Mother ^ is 
published to-day. The author ^ of the prologue, I 
suppose, pleads an old excuse I have read some- 
where, of ''being dull with design"; and the gentle- 
man who writ the epilogue ^ has, to my knowledge, 5 
so much of greater moment to value himself upon, 
that he will easily forgive me for publishing the 
exceptions made against gayety at the end of serious 
entertainments in the following letter: I should be 
more unwilling to pardon him, than anybody, a 10 
practice which cannot have any ill consequence but 
from the abilities of the person who is guilty of it. 

"Mr. Spectator, 

"I had the happiness the other night of sitting 
very near you, and your worthy friend Sir Roger, 15 
at the acting of the new tragedy, which you have, 
in a late paper or two, so justly recommended. 
I was highly pleased with the advantageous situa- 
tion fortune had given me in placing me so near 
two gentlemen, from one of which I was sure to 20 
hear such reflections on the several incidents of the 



214 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 35 

play as pure nature suggested, and from the other, 
such as flowed from the exactest art, and judgment: 
though I must confess that my curiosity led me so 
much to observe the knight's reflections, that I 

5 was not well at leisure to improve myself by yours. 
Nature, I found, played her part in the knight pretty 
well, till at the last concluding lines she entirely 
forsook him. You must know, sir, that it is always 
my custom, when I have been well entertained at 

lo a new tragedy, to make my retreat before the 
facetious epilogue enters; not but that those pieces 
are often very well written, but having paid down 
my half-crown, and made a fair purchase of as 
much of the pleasing melancholy as the poet's art 

IS can afford me, or my own nature admit of, I am 
willing to carry some of it home with me : and cannot 
endure to be at once tricked out of all, though by 
the wittiest dexterity in the world. However, I 
kept my seat the other night, in hopes of finding 

2o my own sentiments of this matter favored by your 
friend's; when, to my great surprise, I found the 
knight entering with equal pleasure into both parts, 
and as much satisfied with Mrs. Oldfield's ^ gayety 
as he had been before with Andromache's greatness. 

25 Whether this were no more than an affect of the 
knight's peculiar humanity, pleased to find at last, 
that, after all the tragical doings, everything was 
safe and well, I do not know; but for my own part, 
I must confess I was so dissatisfied, that I was sorry 



No. 35] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 215 

the poet had saved Andromache,^ and could heartily 
have wished that he had left her stone-dead upon 
the stage. For you cannot imagine, Mr. Spectator, 
the mischief she was reserved to do me. I found 
my soul, during the action, gradually worked up 5 
to the highest pitch, and felt the exalted passion 
which all generous minds conceive at the sight of 
virtue in distress. The impression, believe me, sir, 
was so strong upon me, that I am persuaded, if I 
had been let alone in it, I could, at an extremity, ^° 
have ventured to defend yourself and Sir Roger 
against half a score of the fiercest Mohocks; but the 
ludicrous epilogue in the close extinguished all my 
ardor, and make me look upon all such noble 
achievements as downright silly and romantic. ^5 
What the rest of the audience felt, I cannot so well 
tell. For myself I must declare, that at the end 
of the play I found my soul uniform, and all of a 
piece; but at the end of the epilogue it was so 
jumbled together, and divided between jest and 20 
earnest, that, if you will forgive me an extravagant 
fancy, I will here set it down. I could not but 
fancy, if my soul had at that moment quitted my 
body, and descended to the poetical shades in the 
posture it was then in, what a strange figure it 25 
would have made among them. They would not 
have known what to have made of my motley 
specter, half comic and half tragic, all over resem- 
bling a ridiculous face that at the same time laughs 



216 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 35 

on one side and cries on the other. The only 
defence, I think, I have ever heard made for this, 
as it seems to me the most unnatural tack of the 
comic tail to the tragic head, is this, that the minds 

5 of the audience must be refreshed, and gentlemen 
and ladies not sent away to their own homes with 
too dismal and melancholy thoughts about them: 
for who knows the consequence of this? We are 
much obliged, indeed, to the poets for the great 

lo tenderness they express for the safety of our persons, 
and heartily thank them for it. But if that be all, 
pray, good sir, assure them, that we are none of us 
like to come to any great harm; and that, let them 
do their best, we shall in all probability live out the 

15 length of our days, and frequent the theaters more 
than ever. What makes me more desirous to have 
some information of this matter is, because of an 
ill consequence or two attending it: for, a great 
many of our church musicians being related to the 

20 heater, they have, in imitation of these epilogues, 
introduced, in their farewell voluntaries, a sort of 
music quite foreign to the design of church services, 
to the great prejudice of '.:ell-disposed people. 
Those fingering gentlemen should be informed, that 

25 they ough: to suit their airs to the place and busi- 
ness, and that the musician is obliged to keep to 
the text as much as the preacher. For want of 
this, I have found by experience a great deal of 
mischief. When the preacher has often, with great 



No. 36] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 217 

piety, and art enough, handled his subject, and the 
judicious clerk has with the utmost diligence called 
out two staves proper to the discourse, and I have 
found in myself and in the rest of the pew, good 
thoughts and dispositions, they have been, all in a 5 
moment, dissipated by a merry jig from the organ 
loft. One knows not what further ill effects the 
epilogues I have been speaking of may in time 
produce; but this I am credibly informed of, that 
Paul Lorrain ^ has resolved upon a very sudden ^° 
reformation in his tragical dramas; and that, at the 
next monthly performance, he designs, instead of 
a penitential psalm, to dismiss his audience with 
an excellent new ballad of his own composing. 
Pray, sir, do what you can to put a stop to these ^5 
growing evils, and you will very much oblige 

" Your humble servant, 
" Physibulus/' 

No. 36. Will Honeycomb's Courtship 
Spectator No. 359. Tuesday, April 22, 1712 

Torva lesena lupum sequitur, lupus ipse capellam; 
Florentem cytisum sequitur lasciva capella.^ 

Virg. Eel. vi. 63. 

As we were at the club last night, I observed that 
my old friend Sir Roger, contrary to his usual 20 
custom, sat very silent, and, instead of minding 
what was said by the company, was whistling to 



218 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 36 

himself in a very thoughtful mood, and playing 
with a cork. I jogged Sir Andrew Freeport, who 
sat between us; and, as we were both observing 
him, we saw the knight shake his head, and heard 

5 him say to himself, "A foolish woman! I can't 
believe it." Sir Andrew gave him a gentle pat upon 
the shoulder, and offered to lay ^ him a bottle of 
wine that he was thinking of the widow. My old 
friend started, and, recovering, out of his brown 

lo study, told Sir Andrew, that once in his life he had 
been in the right. In short, after some little hesi- 
tation. Sir Roger told us in the fulness of his heart, 
that he had just received a letter from his steward, 
which acquainted him that his old rival and antag- 

15 onist in the country. Sir David Dundrum, had been 
making a visit to the widow. " However," says Sir 
Roger, " I can never think that she will have a man 
that's half a year older than I am, and a noted 
republican into the bargain." 

20 Will Honeycomb, who looks upon love as his 
particular province, interrupting our friend with a 
jaunty laugh, "I thought, knight," said he, "thou 
hadst lived long enough in the world not to pin thy 
happiness upon one that is a woman, and a widow. 

25 I think that, without vanity, I may pretend to 
know as much of the female world as any man in 
Great Britain; though the chief of my knowledge 
consists in this, that they are not to be known." 
Will immediately, with his usual fluency, rambled 



No. 36] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 219 

into an account of his own amours. "I am now/' 
says he, "upon the verge of fifty'' (though by the 
way we all knew he was turned of threescore). 
"You may easily guess," continued Will, "that I 
have not lived so long in the world without having 5 
had some thoughts of settling in it, as the phrase is. 
To tell you truly, I have several times tried my 
fortune that way, though I cannot much boast of 
my success. 

" I made my first addresses to a young lady in lo 
the country; but, when I thought things were pretty 
well drawing to a conclusion, her father happening 
to hear that I had formerly boarded with a surgeon, 
the old put ^ forbade me his house, and within a 
fortnight after married his daughter to a fox-hunter 15 
in the neighborhood. 

"I made my next application to a widow, and 
attacked her so briskly, that I thought myself within 
a fortnight of her. As I waited upon her one 
morning, she told me, that she intended to keep 20 
her ready money and jointure ^ in her own hand, 
and desired me to call upon her attorney in Lyon's 
Inn,^ who would adjust with me what it was proper 
for me to add to it. I was so rebuffed by this 
overture, that I never inquired either for her or her 25 
attorney afterwards. 

"A few months after, I addressed myself to a 
young lady who was an only daughter, and of a 
good family. I danced with her at several balls, 



220 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 36 

squeezed her by the hand, said soft things to her, and 
in short made no doubt of her heart; and, though 
my fortune was not equal to hers, I was in hopes 
that her fond father would not deny her the man she 

5 had fixed her affections upon. But as I went one 
day to the house, in order to break the matter to 
him, I found the whole family in confusion, and 
heard, to my unspeakable surprise, that Miss Jenny 
was that very morning run away with the butler. 

lo '^I then courted a second widow, and am at a 
loss to this day how I came to miss her, for she 
had often commended my person and behavior. 
Her maid indeed told me one day, that her mistress 
said she never saw a gentleman with such a spindle 

15 pair of legs as Mr. Honeycomb. 

"After this I laid siege to four heiresses succes- 
sively, and, being a handsome young dog in those 
days, quickly made a breach in their hearts; but 
I don't know how it came to pass, though I seldom 

20 failed of getting the daughter's consent, I could 
never in my life get the old people on my side. 

" I could give you an account of a thousand other 
unsuccessful attempts, particularly of one which I 
made some years since upon an old woman, w om 

25 I had certainly borne away with flying colors, if her 
relations had not come pouring in to her assistance 
from all parts of England; nay, I believe I should 
have got her at last, had not she been carried off 
by a hard frost." 



No. 36] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 221 

As Will's transitions are extremely quick, he turned 
from Sir Roger, and, applying himself to me, told 
me there was a passage in the book I had considered 
last Saturday,® which deserved to be writ in letters 
of gold: and taking out a pocket Milton,^ read the 
following lines, which are part of one of Adam's 
speeches to Eve after the fall; 

Oh! why did our 



Creator wise! that peopled highest heaven 
With spirits masculine, create at last 
This novelty on earth, this fair defect 
Of nature, and not fill the world at once 
With men, as angels, without feminine? 
Or find some other way to generate 
Mankind? This mischief had not then befall 'n, 
And more that shall befall, innumerable 
Disturbances on earth, through female snares. 
And straight conjunction with this sex: for either 
He shall never find out fit mate; but such 
As some misfortune brings him, or mistake; 
Or whom he wishes most shall seldom gain. 
Through her perverseness; but shall see her gain'd 
By a far worse: or, if she love, withheld 
By parents; or his happiest choice too late 
Shall meet already link'd, and wedlock bound 
To a fell adversaiy, his hate or shame: 
Which infinite calamity shall cause 
To human life, and household peace confound." 

Sir Roger listened to this passage with great 
attention; and, desiring Mr. Honeycomb to fold 
down a leaf at the place, and lend him his book, lo 
the knight put it up in his pocket, and told us that 
he would read over these verses again before he 
went to bed. 



222 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 37 

No. 37. Sir Roger at Spring Garden 

Spectator No. 383. Tuesday, May 20, 1712 

Criminibus debent hortos. ^ 

Juv. Sat. i. 75. 

As I was sitting in my chamber, and thinking on 
a subject for my next Spectator, I heard two or 
three irregular bounces at my landlady's door, and 
upon the opening of it, a loud cheerful voice in- 

5 quiring whether the philosopher was at home. The 
child who went to the door answered very inno- 
cently, that he did not lodge there. I immediately 
recollected that it was my good friend Sir Roger's 
voice; and that I had promised to go with him on 

lo the water to Spring Garden,^ in case it proved a 
good evening. The knight put me in mind of my 
promise from the bottom of the staircase, but told 
me, that if I was speculating, he would stay below 
till I had done. Upon my coming down, I found 

15 all the children of the family got about my old 
friend; and my landlady herself, who is a notable 
prating gossip, engaged in a conference with him; 
being mightily pleased with his stroking her little 
boy on the head, and bidding him to be a good 

20 child and mind his book. 

We were no sooner come to the Temple-stairs, 
but we were surrounded with a crowd of watermen, 
offering us their respective services. Sir Roger, 



No. 37] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 223 

after having looked about him very attentively, 
spied one with a wooden leg, and immediately gave 
him orders to get his boat ready. As we were 
walking towards it, "You must know," says Sir 
Roger, " I never make use of anybody to row me, 5 
that has not lost either a leg or an arm. I would 
rather bate him a few strokes of his oar than not 
employ an honest man that has been wounded in 
the queen's service. If I was a lord or a bishop, 
and kept a barge, I would not put a fellow in my lo 
livery that had not a wooden leg.'' 

My old friend, after having seated himself, and 
trimmed the boat with his coachman, who, being a 
very sober man, always serves for ballast on these 
occasions, we made the best of our way for Vauxhall. ^5 
Sir Roger obliged the waterman to give us the history 
of his right leg; and, hearing that he had left it at 
La Hogue ^ with many particulars which passed in 
that glorious action, the knight, in the triumph of 
his heart, made several reflections on the greatness 20 
of the British nation; as, that one Englishman could 
beat three Frenchmen; that we could never be in 
danger of popery so long as we took care of our 
fleet; that the Thames was the noblest river in 
Europe; that London bridge was a greater piece of 25 
work than any of the seven wonders of the world; 
with many other honest prejudices which naturally 
cleave to the heart of a true Englishman. 

After some short pause, the old knight turning 



224 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 37 

about his head twice or thrice, to take a survey of 
this great metropoHs, bid me observe how thick the 
city was set with churches, and that there was scarce 
a single steeple on this side Temple-bar. "A most 

5 heathenish sight!" says Sir Roger: "there is no 
religion at this end of the town. The fifty new 
churches will very much mend the prospect; but 
church-work is slow, church-work is slow/' 

I do not remember I have anywhere mentioned 

lo in Sir Roger's character, his custom of saluting 
everybody that passes by him with a good-morrow, 
or a good-night. This the old man does out of the 
overflowings of his humanity; though, at the same 
time, it renders him so popular among all his country 

15 neighbors, that it is thought to have gone a good 
way in making him once or twice knight of the 
shire. He cannot forbear this exercise of benevo- 
lence even in town, when he meets with any one in 
his morning or evening walk. It broke from him 

20 to several boats that passed by us on the water; 
but, to the knight's great surprise, as he gave the 
good-night to two or three young fellows a little 
before our landing, one of them, instead of returning 
the civility, asked us, what queer old put ^ we had 

25 in the boat? with a great deal of the like Thames- 
ribaldry. Sir Roger seemed a little shocked at 
first, but at length assuming a face of magistry, 
told us, that if he were a Middlesex justice, he 
would make such vagrants know that her majesty's 



No. 37] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 225 

subjects were no more to be abused by water than 
by land. 

We were now arrived at Spring-garden, which is 
exquisitely pleasant at this time of the year. When 
I considered the fragrancy of the walks and bowers, 5 
with the choirs of birds, that sung upon the trees, 
and the loose tribe of people that walked under 
their shades, I could not but look upon the place 
as a kind of Mahometan paradise. Sir Roger told 
me it put him in mind of a little coppice by his ^° 
house in the country, which his chaplain used to 
call an aviary of nightingales. "You must under- 
stand," says the knight, "that there is nothing in 
the world that pleases a man in love so much as 
your nightingale. Ah, Mr. Spectator, the many i5 
moonlight nights that I have walked by myself, 
and thought on the widow by the music of the 
nightingale!" He here fetched a deep sigh, and 
was falling into a fit of musing, when a mask,^ who 
came behind him, gave him a gentle tap upon the 20 
shoulder, and asked him if he would drink a bottle 
of mead with her? But the knight being startled 
at so unexpected a familiarity, and displeased to be 
interrupted in his thoughts of the widow, told her 
she was a wanton baggage; and bid her go about 25 
her business. 

We concluded our walk with a glass of Burton 
ale, and a slice of hung beef. When we had done 
eating ourselves, the knight called a w^aiter to him. 



226 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 38 

and bid him carry the remainder to the waterman 
that had but one leg. I perceived the fellow stared 
upon him at the oddness of the message, and was 
going to be saucy; upon which I ratified the knight's 
commands with a peremptory look. 



No. 38. On Good-humor 

Spectator No. 424. Monday, July 7, 1712 

Est Ulubris, animus si te non deficit aequus.^ 

Hor. Ep. xi. Lib. 1. 30. 

"Mr. Spectator, London, June 24. 

"A man who has it in his power to choose his 
own company, would certainly be much to blame, 
should he not, to the best of his judgment, take 

lo such as are of a temper most suitable to his own; 
and where that choice is wanting, or where a man 
is mistaken in his choice, and yet under a necessity 
of continuing in the same company, it will certainly 
be his interest to carry himself as easily as possible. 

15 "In this I am sensible I do but repeat what has 
been said a thousand times, at which however I 
think nobody has any title to take exception, but 
they who never failed to put this in practice. — Not 
to use any longer preface, this being the season of 

20 the year in which great numbers of all sorts of 
people retire from this place of business and pleasure 
to country solitude, I think it not improper to 



(^ 



No. 38] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 227 

advise them to take with them as great a stock of 
good-humor as they can; for though a country Ufe 
is described as the most pleasant of all others, and 
though it may in truth be so, yet it is so only to 
those who know how to enjoy leisure and retirement. 5 

"As for those who cannot live without the con- 
stant helps of business or company, let them con- 
sider, that in the country there is no Exchange, 
there are no playhouses, no variety of coffee-houses, 
nor many of those other amusements which serve lo 
here as so many reliefs from the repeated occurrences 
in their own families; but that there the greatest 
part of their time must be spent within themselves, 
and consequently it behooves them to consider how 
agreeable it will be to them before they leave this 15 
dear town. 

"I remember, Mr. Spectator, we werS*very well 
entertained last year, with the advices you gave us 
from Sir Roger's country-seat; which I the rather 
mention, because it is almost impossible not to live 20 
pleasantly, where the master of the family is such 
a one as you there describe your friend, who cannot 
therefore (I mean as to his domestic character) be 
too often recommended to the imitation of others. 
How amiable is that affability and benevolence with 25 
which he treats his neighbors, and every one, even 
the meanest of his own family! and yet how seldom 
imitated! Instead of which we commonly meet 
with ill-natured expostulations, noise, and chidings 



228 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 38 

— And this I hinted, because the humor and dis- 
position of the head is what chiefly influences all 
the other parts of a family. 

" An agreement and kind correspondence between 

5 friends and acquaintance is the greatest pleasure of 
life. This is an undoubted truth; and yet any man 
who judges from the practice of the world will be 
almost persuaded to believe the contrary; for how 
can we suppose people should be so industrious to 

lo make themselves uneasy? What can engage them 
to entertain and foment jealousies of one another 
upon every the least occasion? Yet so it is, there 
are people who (as it should seem) delight in being 
troublesome and vexatious, who (as TuUy ^ speaks) 

15 Mird sunt alacritate ad litigandum, "have a certain 
cheerfulness in wrangling." And thus it happens, 
that there are very few families in which there are 
not feuds and animosities; though it is every one's 
interest, there more particularly, to avoid them, 

20 because there (as I would willingly hope) no one 
gives another uneasiness without feeling some share 
of it. — But I am gone beyond what I designed, 
and had almost forgot what I chiefly proposed: 
which was, barely to tell you how hardly we, who 

25 pass most of our time in town, dispense with a long 
vacation in the country, how uneasy we grow to 
ourselves, and to one another, when our conversation 
is confined; insomuch that, by Michaelmas,^ it is 
odds but we come to downright squabbling, and 



No. 38] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 229 

make as free with one another to our faces as we do 
with the rest of the world behind their backs. 
After I have told you this, I am to desire that you 
would now and then give us a lesson of good-humor, 
a family-piece, which, since we are all very fond of 5 
you, I hope may have some influence upon us. 

"After these plain observations, give me leave 
to give you an hint of what a set of company of my 
acquaintance, who are now gone into the country, 
and have the use of an absent nobleman's seat, 1° 
have settled among themselves, to avoid the incon- 
veniences above mentioned. They are a collection 
of ten or twelve, of the same good inclination towards 
each other, but of very different talents and incli- 
nations; from hence they hope that the variety of ^5 
their tempers will only create variety of pleasures. 
But as there always will arise, among the same 
people, either for want of diversity of objects, or 
the like causes, a certain satiety, w^hich may grow 
into ill-humor or discontent, there is a large wing 20 
of the house which they design to employ in the 
nature of an infirmary. Whoever says a peevish 
thing, or acts anything which betrays a sourness or 
indisposition to company, is immediately to be con- 
veyed to his chambers in the infirmary; from whence 25 
he is not to be relieved, till by his manner of sub- 
mission, and the sentiments expressed in his petition 
for that purpose, he appears to the majority of the 
company to be again fit for society. You are to 



230 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 39 

understand, that all ill-natured words or uneasy 
gestures are sufficient cause for banishment; speak- 
ing impatiently to servants, making a man repeat 
what he says, or anything that betrays inattention 
5 or dishumor, are also criminal without reprieve. 
But it is provided, that whoever observes the ill- 
natured fit coming upon himself, and voluntarily 
retires, shall be received at his return from the 
infirmary with the highest marks of esteem. By 

10 these and other wholesome methods, it is expected 
that if they cannot cure one another, yet at least 
they have taken care that the ill-humor of one shall 
not be troublesome to the rest of the company. 
There are many other rules which the society have 

15 established for the preservation of their ease and 

tranquillity, the effects of which, with the incidents 

that arise among them, shall be communicated to 

you from time to time, for the public good, by. Sir, 

" Your most humble servant, 

20 "R. 0." 

No. 39. The Death of Sir Roger 

Spectator No. 517. Thursday, October 23, 1712 
Heu pietas! heu prisca fides! 1 



Virg. JEn. vi. 878. 

We last night received a piece of ill news at our 
cluby which very sensibly afflicted every one of us. 
I question not but my readers themselves will be 



No. 39] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 231 

troubled at the hearing of it. To keep them no 
longer in suspense, Sir Roger de Coverley is dead. 
He departed this life at his house in the country, 
after a few weeks' sickness. Sir Andrew Freeport 
has a letter from one of his correspondents in those 5 
parts, that informs him the old man caught a cold 
at the county-sessions, as he was very warmly 
promoting an address of his own penning, in which 
he succeeded according to his wishes. But this 
particular comes from a whig justice of peace, who ^° 
was always Sir Roger's enemy and antagonist. I 
have letters both from the chaplain and Captain 
Sentry, which mention nothing of it, but are filled 
with many particulars to the honor of the good old 
man. I have likewise a letter from the butler, who ^5 
took so much care of me last summer when I was 
at the knight's house. As my friend the butler 
mentions, in the simplicity of his heart, several 
circumstances the others have passed over in silence, 
I shall give my reader a copy of his letter, without 20 
any alteration or diminution. 

" Honored Sir, 

"Knowing that you was my old master's good 
friend, I could not forbear sending you the melan- 
choly news of his death, which has afflicted the 25 
whole country, as well as his poor servants, who 
loved him, I may say, better than we did our lives. 
I am afraid he caught his death the last county- 



232 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 39 

sessions, where he would go to see justice done to a 
poor widow woman, and her fatherless children, 
that had been wronged by a neighboring gentleman; 
for you know, sir, my good master was always the 

5 poor man's friend. Upon his coming home, the 
first complaint he made was, that he had lost his 
roast-beef stomach, not being able to touch a sirloin, 
which was served up according to custom; and you 
know he used to take great delight in it. From 

lo that time forward he grew worse and worse, but 
still kept a good heart to the last. Indeed we were 
once in great hope of his recovery, upon a kind 
message that was sent him from the widow lady 
whom he had made love to the forty last years of 

IS his life; but this only proved a lightning before 
death. He has bequeathed to this lady, as a token 
of his love, a great pearl necklace, and a couple of 
silver bracelets set with jewels, which belonged to 
my good old lady his mother. He has bequeathed 

2o the fine white gelding that he used to ride a hunting 
upon to his chaplain, because he thought he would 
be kind to him; and has left you all his books. He 
has, moreover, bequeathed to the chaplain a very 
pretty tenement with good lands about it. It being 

25 a very cold day when he made his will, he left for 
mourning to every man in the parish, a great frieze- 
coat, and to every woman a black riding-hood. It 
was a moving sight to see him take leave of his 
poor servants, commending us all for our fidelity. 



No. 39] ;SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 233 

whilst we were not able to speak a word tor weeping. 
As we most oi us are grown gray-headed m our dear 
master's service, he has left us pensions and legacies, 
which we may live very comfortably upon the re- 
maining part of our days. He has bequeathed a 5 
great deal more in charity, which is not yet come to 
my knowledge, and it is peremptorily said in the 
parish, that he has left money to build a steeple to 
the church; for he was heard to say some time ago, 
that, if he lived two years longer, Coverley church lo 
should have a steeple to it. The chaplain tells 
everybody that he made a very good end, and never 
speaks of him without tears. He was buried, ac- 
cording to his own directions, among the family of 
the Coverleys, on the left hand of his father Sir 15 
Arthur. The coffin was carried by six of his tenants, 
and the pall held up by six of the quorum. The 
whole parish followed the corpse w^ith heavy hearts, 
and in their mourning suits; the men in frieze, and 
the women in riding-hoods. Captain Sentry, my 20 
master's nephew, has taken possession of the Hall- 
house, and the whole estate. When my old master 
saw him, a little before his death, he shook him by 
the hand, and wished him joy of the estate which 
was falling to him, desiring him only to make a 25 
good use of it, and to pay the several legacies, and 
the gifts of charity, which he told him he had left 
as quit-rents upon the estate. I'he captain truly 
seems a courteous man, though he says out littiCo 



234 SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS [No. 39 

He makes much of those whom my master loved, 
and shows great kindness to the old house-dog, that 
you know my poor master was so fond of. It would 
have gone to your heart to have heard the moans 

5 the dumb creature made on the day of my master's 
death. He has never joyed himself since; no more 
has any of us. It was the melancholiest day for 
the poor people that ever happened in Worcester- 
shire. This being all from, Honored Sir, 

lo " Your most sorrowful servant, 

"Edward Biscuit.'^ 
" P. S. My master desired, some weeks before he 
died, that a book, which comes up to you by his 
carrier, should be given to Sir Andrew Freeport in 

15 his name.'' 

This letter, notwithstanding the poor butler's 
manner of writing it, gave us such an idea of our 
good old friend, that upon the reading of it there 
was not a dry eye in the club. Sir Andrew, opening 

20 the book, found it to be a collection of acts of par- 
liament. There was in particular the Act of Uni- 
formity, with some passages in it marked by Sir 
Roger's own hand. Sir Andrew found that they 
related to two or three points which he had disputed 

25 with Sir Roger, the last time he appeared at the 
club. Sir Andrew, who would have been merry at 
such an incident on another occasion, at the sight 
of the old man's writing burst into tears, and put 



No. 40] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 235 

the book in his pocket. Captain Sentry informs 
me that the knight has left rings and mourning for 
every one in the club. 



No. 40. A Letter from Captain Sentry 
Spectator No. 544. Monday, November 24, 1712 

Nunquam it a quisquam bene subducta ratione ad vitam fuit, 
Qiiin res, setas, usus, semper aliquid apportet novi, 
Aliquid nioneat: ut ilia, quae te scire credas, nescias; 
Et, quae tibi putaris prima, in experiundo ut repudies. ^ 

Ter. Adelph. Act. v. So. 4. 

There are, I think, sentiments in the following 
letter from my friend Captain Sentry, which dis- 5 
cover a rational and equal frame of mind, as well 
prepared for an advantageous as an unfortunate 
change of condition. 

Coverley-hall, November 15, 

,, c^ Worcestershire. 10 

Sir, 

" I am come to the succession of the estate of my 
honored kinsman. Sir Roger de Coverley; and I 
assure you I find it no easy task to keep up the 
figure of master of the fortune which was so hand- 15 
somely enjoyed by that honest plain man. I cannot 
(with respect to the great obligations I have, be it 
spoken) reflect upon his character, but I am con- 
firmed in the truth which I have, I think, heard 



236 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 40 

spoken at the club; to wit, that a man of a warm 
and well-disposed heart, with a very small capacity, 
is highly superior in human society to him who, 
with the greatest talents, is cold and languid in his 

5 affections. But alas! why do I make a difficulty in 
speaking of my worthy ancestor's failings? His 
little absurdities and incapacity for the conversation 
of the politest men are dead with him, and his 
greater qualities are ever now useful to him. I 

lo know not whether by naming those disabilities I do 
not enhance his merit, since he has left behind him 
a reputation in his country, which would be worth 
the pains of the wisest man's whole life to arrive at. 
By the way, I must observe to you, that many of 

15 your readers have mistook that passage in your 
writings, wherein Sir Roger is reported to have 
inquired into the private character of the young 
woman at the tavern. I know you mentioned tnat 
circumstance as an instance of the simplicity and 

20 innocence of his mind, which made him imagine it 
a very easy thing to reclaim one of those criminals, 
and not as an inclination in him to be guilty with 
her. The less discerning of your readers cannot 
enter into that delicacy of description in the char- 

25 acter: but indeed my chief business at this time is 
to represent to you my present state of mind, and 
the satisfaction I promise to myself in the possession 
of my new fortune. I have continued all Sir Roger's 
servants, except such as it was a relief to dismiss into 



No. 40] SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS 237 

little beings ^ within my manor. Those who are in 
a list of the good knight's own hand to be taken 
care of by me, I have quartered upon such as have 
taken new leases of me, and added so many advan- 
tages during the lives of the persons so quartered, 5 
that it is the interest of those whom they are 
joined with to cherish and befriend them upon 
all occasions. I find a considerable sum of ready 
money, which I am laying out among my depen- 
dants at the common interest, but with a design to lo 
lend it according to their merit, rather than accord- 
ing to their ability. I shall lay a tax upon such as 
I have highly obliged, to become security to me for 
such of their own poor youth, whether male or 
female, as want help towards getting into some 15 
being in the world. ^ I hope I shall be able to 
manage my affairs so as to improve my fortune 
every year by doing acts of kindness. I will lend 
my money to the use of none but indigent men, 
secured by such as have ceased to be indigent by 20 
the favor of my family or myself. What makes 
this the more practicable is, that if they will do any 
good with my money, they are welcome to it upon 
their own security: and I make no exceptions against 
it, because the persons who enter into the obliga- 25 
tions do it for their own family. I have laid out 
four thousand pounds this way, and it is not to be 
imagined what a crowd of people are obliged by it. 
In cases where Sir Roger has recommended, I have 



238 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 40 

lent money to put out children, with a clause which 
makes void the obligation in case the infant ^ dies 
before he is out of his apprenticeship; ^ by which 
means the kindred and masters are extremely care- 

5 ful of breeding him to industry, that he may re-pay 
it himself by his labor, in three years' journey-work ^ 
after his time is out, for the use of his securities. 
Opportunities of this kind are all that have occurred 
since I came to my estate: but I assure you I will 

lo preserve a constant disposition to catch at all the 
occasions I can to promote the good and happiness 
of my neighborhood. 

" But give me leave to lay before you a little 
establishment which has grown out of my past life, 

15 that I doubt not will administer great satisfaction 
to me in that part of it, whatever that is, which is 
to come. 

"There is a prejudice in favor of the way of life 
to which a man has been educated, which I know 

20 not whether it would not be faulty to overcome. 
It is like a partiality to the interest of one's own 
country before that of any other nation. It is from 
an habit of thinking, grown upon me from my youth 
spent in arms, that I have ever held gentlemen, who 

25 have preserved modesty, good-nature, justice, and 
humanity, in a soldier's life, to be the most valuable 
and worthy persons of the human race. To pass 
through imminent dangers, suffer painful watchings, 
frightful alarms, and laborious marches, for the 



No. 40] SIR ROGER DE COVERLET PAPERS 239 

greater part of a man's time, and pass the rest in 
sobriety conformable to the rules of the most vir- 
tuous civil life, is a merit too great to deserve the 
treatment it usually meets with among the other 
parts of the world. But I assure you, sir, were 5 
there not very many who have this worth, we could 
never have seen the glorious events ^ which we have 
in our days. I need not say more to illustrate the 
character of a soldier than to tell you he is the very 
contrary to him you observe loud, saucy, and over- lo 
bearing, in a red coat about town. But I was going 
to tell you that, in honor of the profession of arms, 
I have set apart a certain sum of money for a table 
for such gentlemen as have served their country in 
the army, and will please from time to time to ^5 
sojourn all, or any part of the year, at Coverley. 
Such of them as will do me that honor shall find 
horses, servants, and all things necessary for their 
accommodation and enjoyment of all the conven- 
iencies of life in a pleasant various country. If 20 
Colonel Camperfelt ^ be in town, and his abilities 
are not employed another way in the service, there 
is no man would be more welcome here. That 
gentleman's thorough knowledge in his profession, 
together with the simplicity of his manners and 25 
goodness of his heart, would induce others like him to 
honor my abode; and I should be glad my acquaint- 
ance would take themselves to be invited, or not, 
as their characters have an affinity to his. 



240 SIR ROGER DE COVERLEY PAPERS [No. 40 

"I would have all my friends know, that they 
need not fear (though I am become a country gen- 
tleman) I will trespass against their temperance and 
sobriety. No, sir, I shall retain so much of the good 

5 sentiments for the conduct of life, which we culti- 
vated in each other at our club, as to contemn all 
inordinate pleasures; but particularly remember, 
with our beloved Tully, that the delight m food 
consists in desire, not satiety. They who most 

lo passionately pursue pleasure, seldomest arrive at it. 
Now I am writing to a philosopher, I cannot forbear 
mentioning the satisfaction I took m the passage 
I read yesterday in the same Tully. A nobleman 
of Athens made a compliment to Plato the morning 

15 after he had supped at his house. 'Your enter- 
tainments do not only please when you give them, 
but also the day after.' I am, 

" My worthy friend, 
" Your most obedient humble servant, 

20 " Wii^i^iAM Sentry. " 



NOTES 

No. 1. 

1. March i, 17TO-11: Before 1752, it was for many- 
years customary in England to give two numbers for 
dates between January 1 and March 25; popular reckon- 
ing regarded January 1 as the beginning of the year, but 
the legal new year began March 25. In 1752 the Gregorian 
Calendar was adopted. 

2. Motto: "He plans no flash to end in smoke, but 
smoke breaking into flame, to light the further wonders 
of his show." 

3. Black: Dark, of hair or complexion. 

4. My own history: This "history" is of course ficti- 
tious, but to the imaginary character he describes Addi- 
son attributed some of his own characteristics. Macaulay 
says, "It is not easy to doubt that the portrait was meant 
to be in some features a likeness of the painter." 

5. William the Conqueror's time: William, Duke of 
Normandy, came to England in 1066, defeated King 
Harold in the battle of Hastings, and made himself king 
of England. He died in 1087. 

6. Depending: Pending. 

7. The controversies of some great men, etc.: About 
sixty years before, John Greaves, an Oriental scholar, had 
published a book entitled Pyramidographia or a Discotirse 
on the Pyramids of Egypt. In 1706 appeared a pamphlet 
on the same subject. 

8. Will's: Will's Coffee-house, the favorite resort of 
men of letters. In Addison's time the coffee and chocolate 
houses of London were popular places of resort, correspond- 
ing to the clubs of to-day. 

9. Child's: A coffee-house frequented by clergymen, 
lawyers, physicians, and philosophers. 

10. Postman: A popular newspaper of the day. 

11. St. James's: A coffee-house which was the resort 
of Whig politicians. 

241 



242 NOTES 

12. The Grecian: The first coffee-house opened in Lon- 
don. It was kept by a Greek named Constantine, hence 
its name. It was patronized by lawyers and men of 
learning. 

13. The Cocoa-tree: A chocolate-house favored by men 
of fashion. It was the Tory headquarters as St. James 
was the Whig. 

14. Drury Lane and the Haymarket: The two London 
theaters of the day. 

15. Jonathan's: A coffee-house where stock brokers and 
business men assembled. 

16. Blots: In backgammon, a "blot" is to leave a 
single piece exposed. 

17. Whigs and Tories: The two leading political parties 
of England. The Whigs are Liberals and the Tories Con- 
servatives, and the two parties have been opposed on 
questions of policy and government for more than two 
hundred years. How did each of these parties regard the 
American colonists and the Revolution? 

18. Points which I have not spoken to: Points which 
I have not discussed. We still say we "speak to the 
point." What meaning has this phrase? 

19. Mr. Buckley's: Mr. Samuel Buckley was the first 
publisher of the Spectator. 

20. Little Britain: A short street in London, so called 
because it had been the residence of the Dukes of Brittany. 
In the seventeenth century it was the headquarters of 
publishers and booksellers. Read Irving's description 
of it in the Sketch Book. 

No. 2. 

1. Motto: "Six others and more shout with one voice." 

2. Our Society: These characters are all imaginary. 
Addison says later: "I have shown in a former paper with 
how much care I have avoided all such thoughts as are 
loose, obscene, or immoral; and I believe my reader would 
still think the better of me if he knew the pains I am at 
in qualifying what I write after such a manner that nothing 
may be interpreted as aimed at private persons." His 
words apply to the persons described by Steele as members 
of the club. 

3. Worcestershire: A county in the western part of 
England. 



NOTES 243 

4. Sir Roger de Coverley: Steele says it was Swift who 
proposed this name for the country squire. 

5. That famous country dance: a country dance — or 
contre danse as the Frencn term it — is a dance in which 
partners stand opposite each other, as in the Virginia reel. 
The "Sir Roger de Coverley" was a popular dance of 
Addison's day, to a tune called Roger a Calverley, from a 
certain knight of the time of Richard I. 

6. Soho Square: A square in London, a very fashionable 
residence section in the early part of the eighteenth century. 

7. Lord Rochester : The Earl of Rochester was a famous 
wit, a favorite of Charles 11. He composed the well- 
known mock epitaph on his royal master: 

"Here lies my sovereign lord, the king, 
Whose word no man relies on, 
Who never said a foolish thing 
And never did a wise one." 

8. Sir George Etherege: A wit and dramatist of the 
time of Charles II. 

9. Bully Dawson: A noted sharper and swaggerer of 
the reign of Charles II. 

10. In and out: In and out of fashion. 

11. Justice of the quortun: Justice of the peace. 

12. Quarter session: The court held quarterly by the 
justices of the peace in counties. 

13. The game act: The law which defined what persons 
had the privilege of keeping guns and bows and having 
hunting grounds. Notice the gentle sarcasm of this 
sentence. 

14. Inner Temple: One of the four Inns of Court or 
legal societies of London, which have the right of admit- 
ting students to the bar. The others are the Middle Temple, 
Lincoln's Inn, and Gray's Inn. 

15. Aristotle: a Greek philosopher of the fourth cen- 
tury before Christ. 

16. Longinus: A Greek philosopher and critic who 
lived in the third century of the Christian era. 

17. Littleton: An English judge of the fifteenth cen- 
tury, author of a celebrated law treatise. 

18. Coke: An English chief justice of the sixteenth 
century, who wrote a commentary on Littleton's work, 
which is an English authority on law. 



244 NOTES 

19. Demosthenes: The greatest Greek orator, who lived 
in the fourth century before Christ. 

20. TuUy: Marcus TulUus Cicero, now usually called 
Cicero, the greatest of the Roman orators. He lived in 
the century before Christ. 

21. Wit: Intellect, ability. 

22. The time of the play: Theatrical preformances 
then began at five or six o'clock in the afternoon. 

23. New Inn: A precinct of the Middle Temple. 

24. Russell Court: A narrow passage leading from 
Drury Lane. 

25. The Rose: A noted tavern, adjoining Drury Lane 
theater, which was a popular resort for playgoers. 

26. Invincible: Not to be overcome. 

27. Humorists: Persons who conduct themselves accord- 
ing to their own whims, or humors, rather than according 
to received conventions. 

28. Habits: Styles of dress. 

29. Will take notice to you: Will call to your notice. 

30. Duke of Monmouth: James Stuart, Duke of Mon- 
mouth, was a son of Charles II. He asserted his claim 
to the throne against the Duke of York, afterwards James II, 
and in 1685 invaded England with a band of armed exiles. 
He was defeated at Sedgemoor and was executed a few 
days later. 

No. 3. 

1. Motto: "They believed it a crime and one to be 
atoned for with death, if a youth did not rise in the pres- 
ence of an old man." 

2. Lincoln's Inn Fields: A public square in London. 
It is now a beautiful park, but at the time of which Steele 
writes it was the favorite haunt of wrestlers, beggars, and 
idle men and boys of the lower classes. 

3. Intentively: Attentively. 

4. Pass upon: Pass with. 

5. Sir Richard Blackmore: A physician and a poet, a 
contemporary of Addison and Steele. It is said that this 
passage, quoted inaccurately and probably from memory, 
is from the preface to one of his poems. 

6. Mode and gallantry: Fashion and good breeding or 
politeness. 

7. Quality: Rank. 



NOTES 245 

8. The Lacedaemonians, etc.: The strict code of Lace- 
daemon, or Sparta, inculcated, among other virtues, rever- 
ence for old age and undaunted courage. 

No. 4. 

1. Motto: "The wild beast spares one with spots Hke 
its own," that is, spares its own kind. 

2. Softest: Most delicate, most courteous. 

3. The opera and the puppet-show: These subjects 
had been discussed in characteristic fashion in previous 
numbers of the Spectator, especially in one the week be- 
fore. 

4. The dress and equipage, etc.: The reference is to 
Number Sixteen of the Spectator. 

5. The Templar: The member of the Temple mentioned 
in Number Two. 

6. Horace: A Latin satirical poet of the first century 
before Christ. 

7. Juvenal: Another Roman satirical poet. He lived 
in the second century of the Christian era. 

8. Boileau: A French poet and prose writer, author of 
satires, who lived in the seventeenth century. 

9. The Roman triumvirate: The second triumvirate, 
consisting of Antony, Lepidus, and Octavianus or Augustus. 
See Julius Caesar, Act IV, Scene 1. 

10. Punch: The chief character in the puppet-show 
Punch and Judy. He frequently indulged in personalities 
and coarse jests. 

No. 5. 

1. Motto: ''Unbred to spinning, in the loom unskilled." 
Dryden. Literally, "She had not used her woman's hands 
to the distaff and the skeins of Minerva." 

2. A lady's library: In 1714 Steele published a three- 
volume compilation entitled The Ladies' Library. 

3. Great jars of china: China collecting was a fashion- 
able fad of the day. 

4. Scaramouches: A buffoon in Italian farce and 
comedy. 

5. Fagots: Persons hired to take the places of others 
in a muster. 

6. Ogleby's Virgil: The first complete English trans- 
lation of the works of Virgil, a famous Roman poet. 



246 NOTES 

7. Dryden's Juvenal: A translation by Dryden, a cele- 
brated English poet. 

8. Cassandra, Cleopatra, Astrae: Popular French ro- 
mances. 

9. Sir Isaac Newton: An English philosopher of the 
seventeenth century. 

10. The grand Cyrus: A French romance in ten vol- 
umes. 

11. Pembroke's Arcadia: A prose romance by Sir 
Philip Sidney, famous English author and soldier of the 
sixteenth century. It was published after his death by 
his sister, the Countess of Pembroke, 

12. Locke: An English philosopher of the seventeenth 
century. 

13. Patches: Small pieces of silk or courtplaster stuck 
on the face, according to the fashion of the seventeenth 
and eighteenth centuries. 

14. Sherlock: A famous English divine of the seven- 
teenth century. 

15. The Fifteen Comforts of Matrimony: An English ver- 
sion of a French volume entitled, Quinze Joies de Mariage. 

16. Sir William Temple: An English author and states- 
man of the seventeenth century. 

17. Malebranche: A French philosopher of the seven- 
teenth century. 

18. The Ladies' Calling: A popular moralizing volume 
of the seventeenth century. 

19. Durfey: A writer of songs and plays in the reign 
of Charles II. 

20. Elzevirs: Editions, especially of the classics, printed 
and published by the Elzevir family of Holland in the 
seventeenth century. 

21. By the same hand: That of the carpenter. 

22. Clelia: Another French romance, in ten volumes. 

23. Baker's Chronicle: A history of England by Sir 
Richard Baker, pubUshed in 1643. 

24. Advice to a Daughter: This was by George Savile, 
Marquis of Halifax, an English statesman and author of 
the seventeenth century. 

25. The New Atalantis: A book by Mr. Manley, which 
attacked, under feigned names, members of prominent 
Whig families, — hence the need of a "key." 

26. Steele's Christian Hero: A treatise by Richard 



NOTES 247 

Steele, Addison's friend, associated with him in the author- 
ship of these papers. 

27. Hungary water: A distilled "water" made of alco- 
hol flavored with rosemary and layender, used as a per- 
fume and a medicine. 

28. Dr. Sacheverell's speech: Dr. Sacheverell was a 
Tory clergyman impeached by the Whigs on account of 
his political sermons. The case caused great excitement 
and his speech during his trial was read with much interest. 

29. Fielding's trial: An account of the trial for bigamy 
of a certain Robert Fielding. 

30. Seneca: A Roman moralist of the first century. 

31. Taylor: Dr. Jeremy Taylor, an eloquent English 
divine of the seventeenth century. 

32. Le Ferte: A fashionable dancing-master of the day. 

33. Visitants: Visitors. 

34. Turtles: Turtle doves. 

No. 6. 

1. Motto : " Here plenty's liberal horn shall pour of fruits 
for thee a copious shower, rich honors of the quiet plain." 

2. Dr. Fleetwood. 

3. Archbishop Tillotson, etc.: Distinguished divines of 
the day. 

No. 7. 

1. Motto: ''The Athenians erected a colossal statue to 
^sop and placed him, a slave, on a lasting pedestal, to 
show that the way to honor lies open to all." 

2. Husband: Manager, economist. We still use the verb 
in this sense in the phrase ''to husband one's resources." 

3. Fine: A legal term for a sum of money paid by a 
tenant when he made over his lands to another. 

4. Falls: Terminates, ends. 

5. Prentice: apprentice. 

6. The dress he was in : The livery of the servant. 

No. 8. 

1. Motto: "Out of breath to no purpose, and very 
busy about nothing." 

2. Quail-pipe: A pipe for luring quails into a net. 

No. 9. 

1. Motto: "Of plain good sense, untutored in the 
schools"; literally, "wise, not according to rule," 



248 NOTES 

2. Harry the Seventh: Henry VII (1456-1509), King 
of England, the first of the royal house of Tudor. 

3. The yeomen of the guard: The bodyguard of the 
English king, who are still dressed in the costume of the 
sixteenth century. 

4. Tilt-yard: A place for tilting or jousting. 

5. Whitehall: A royal palace in London. Through 
its old courtyard now passes the thoroughfare bearing 
that name. 

6. The coffee-house: The tilt-yard coffee-house, which 
then stood on tht present site of the Paymaster-General's 
office. 

7. The new-fashioned petticoat: The fashionable skirt, 
very wide \t the bottom. 

8. Brought: Bore. 

9. White pot: A kind of custard. 

10. Knight of this shire; Representative in parliament 
of the county. 

11. Husbandman: manager, economist. 

12. Such a: A certain. 

13. Worcester: A battle in 1651 between the Round- 
heads and the Royalists — that is, the partisans of the 
commonwealth and of the king. 

No. 10. 

1. Motto: 

"All things are full of horror and affright, 
And dreadful ev'n the silence of the night." 

— Dryden. 

2. Psalm cxlvii. 9. 

3. John Locke (1632-1704): A celebrated English phi- 
losopher, author oi Essay on Human Under standing. The 
reference is to Book II, Chap. 33. 

4. Lucretius (B.C. 95-52): A Roman poet. 

5. Josephus (a.d. 37-?): A celebrated Jewish histonan. 

No. 11. 
1. Motto ^ 

" First, in obedience to thy country's rites, 
WoishiD the immortal gods." 
No. 12. • 

1. Motto: Her looks abide deeply fixed in his heart." 

2. Assizes Sessions of court for the trial of civil and 
criminal case;. 



NOTES 249 

3. With a murrain to her: An imprecation, equivalent 
to "Confound her." Murrain is a disease of cattle. 

4. Sphinx: In Greek mythology the Theban Sphinx 
was a monster that propounded a riddle and slew those 
who failed to guess it. When it was solved by OEdipus, 
the Sphinx killed herself. The Sphinx is represented in 
Greek art by a monster having a human head and the 
body of a winged lion or dog. The Egyptian Sphinx had 
a human head and the animal body without wings. 

5. -Tansy: A favorite dish of the seventeenth century 
made of eggs, cream, sugar, and the juices of herbs, flavored 
with rose-water and baked in a shallow dish. 

6. Martial: A Latin poet of the first century. 

7. Dum tacet hanc loquitur: Even when silent he 
speaks of her. 

8. That whole epigram: He omits, however, the two 
last lines. 

No. 13. 

1. Motto: "The shame and dread of poverty." 

2. Dipped: Mortgaged. 

3. Usiury: Interest; especially, illegal interest. 

4. Proud stomach: Proud obstinacy. 

5. Libertine: Reckless. 

6. Four shillings in the pound: This was the land tax 
in 1711, imposed on the income derived from land. 

7. Out of nature: Unlike nature, unnatural. 

8. Mr. Cowley: Abraham Cowley, an English poet of 
the seventeenth century. 

9. The elegant author, etc.: Thomas Sprat, Bishop of 
Rochester, who wrote a life of Cowley and edited his works. 

10. "Great vulgar'*: From the first lines of Cowley's 
paraphrase of one of Horace's odes: — 

"Hence, ye profane! I hate ye all; 
Both the great vulgar and the small. "" 

No. 14. 

1. Motto: "That there may be a sound mmd in a 
sound body." 

2. Dr. Sydenham: An emment English physician of 
the seventeenth century. 

3. Medicina gymnastica: Exercise as Medtdne, by Francis 
Fuller, a clergyman of the sixteenth century. 



250 NOTES 

4. Latin treatise, etc. : Artis gymnasticce apud AntiquoSy 
by Mercurialis, published in Venice in the sixteenth century. 

No. 15. 

1. The Coverley Hunt: Johnson says that this paper, 
written by Budgell, was rewritten by Addison. This 
number was probably turned over to Budgell in the first 
place because the description of the country gentleman of 
the day would be incomplete without an account of his 
field sports — a subject about which Addison knew little 
and cared less. 

2. Motto: ''Cithseron and the dogs of Taygetus call 
with a great cry." 

3. Bastile: A prison in Paris destroyed by the mob 
at the outbreak of the French Revolution in 1789. 

4. Stone horse: Stallion. 

5. Stop hounds: Dogs trained to hunt slowly, stopping 
at the huntsman's signal. 

6. A complete concert: In the days of Queen Anne as 
in the Shaksperian age great care was taken to match and 
to attune the voices of a pack of hounds. This point of 
excellence is now insisted upon by but few keepers of 
hounds. 

7. Counter tenor: High tenor. 

8. Flew'd: Having large flews or chops. 

9. Sanded: Of a sandy color. 

10. Dewlapp'd: Having dewlaps like an ox. The 
dewlap is the pendulous skin under the neck. 

11. Act IV, Scene 1. 

12. Threw down his pole: The huntsmen of the lower 
classes went on foot instead of horseback, being provided 
with long leaping poles to aid them in traveling the rough 
country. 

13. Monsieur Porcal: A French philosopher and mathe- 
matician of the seventeenth century. 

14. The following lines, etc.: The lines quoted are 
from the Epistle to John Dry den. 

No. 16. 

1. Motto: "With voluntary dreams they cheat their 
minds." 

2. From Act II of The Orphan, a tragedy by Thomas 
Otway, a contemporary of Dryden. 



NOTES 251 

No. 17. 

1. Motto: "The fatal arrow sticks in his side." 

2. Salute: Kiss. 

3. Whisperer: Confidante, intimate friend. 

4. Addressed to: Made love to. 

5. Presented: Given presents. 

No. 18. 

1. Motto: ''The city that they call Rome, O Melibaeus, 
I, silly one, thought like this country town of ours." 

2. It must be remembered that Addison described the 
state of affairs before the steam and the electric car 
annihilated distances. Country neighborhoods, isolated 
by bad roads and the difficulties and even dangers of 
traveling, formed little worlds of their own, retaining 
fashions and manners so long supplanted in the fashion- 
able world of London that their existence even had been 
forgotten. 

3. Laced: Trimmed with gold lace. 

4. The Western circuit: One of the eight judicial 
divisions of England and Wales. 

No. 19. 

1. Motto: "Truly, I believe their intelligence has some- 
thing divine about it." 

2. Nicer frame: Superior order. 

No. 20. 

1. Motto: "All things are full of Jove," that is, of God. 

2. Monsieur Bayle: Pierre Bayle, a French philosopher 
of the seventeenth century. 

3. Dampier: William Dampier, an English navigator 
and buccaneer of the seventeenth century. 

4. Dr. More: Henry More, an English divine and phi- 
losopher of the seventeenth century. 

5. Cardan: Jerome Cardan, an Italian astrologer and 
scientist of the sixteenth century. 

6. Mr. Boyle: Robert Boyle, a celebrated natural 
philosopher of the seventeenth century. 

7. Royal Society: A famous society of London founded 
in 1660 to promote scientific knowledge. 

No. 21. 

1. Motto: "An agreeable companion on the road is as 
good as a coach." 



252 NOTES 

2. The old English law, in force until 1827, provided 
that any one not having an income of one hundred pounds 
per annum must not shoot game. 

3. Cast: Defeat in a law suit. 

No. 22. 

1. Motto: "But learning improves natural talents and 
right cultivation strengthens the character; whenever 
morals have degenerated, vice disgraces noble birth.'' 

2. Gazette: The London Gazette is the official journal 
of the British Government. 

3. Turned of forty: Past forty. 

4. "There is no dallying with life": There is no fooling 
with life when it is once turned beyond forty. — Cowley's 
Essay on the Danger of Procastination. 

5. Closet: Private room. 

No. 23. 

1. Motto: 

"This thirst of kindred blood, my sons, detest, 
Nor turn your face against your country's breast. 

— Dryderi. 

2. The time: i.e., the period of the Puritan supremacy 
in England, when the Royalist party were called "Cavaliers" 
and the Puritans "Roundheads." 

3. Plutarch (a.d. 50-?): A celebrated Greek philosopher 
and biographer. Plutarch's Lives is his famous work. 

4. Viz., by Jesus Christ. See Luke vi. 27-32. 

5. Guelphs and Ghibellines : Two famous Italian families 
in the twelfth century, long at feud. 

6. League: The Catholic League was formed by the 
Duke of Guise to aid the Catholic succession to the crown 
of Henry III of France (1576). 

No. 24. 

1. Motto: "Be he Trojan or Rutulian, I will make no 
distinction." 

2. Diodorus Siculus: A Sicilian Ci^'eek of the first cen- 
tury before Christ, who wrote a Btstory of the World in 
forty volumes. 

3. Ot a politer conversation o Of more refined manners. 

4. Cock match: In the eighteenth century, cock hunt- 
ing was one of the favorite amusements oi country gentle- 
men. 



NOTES 253 

5. Bad cheer: Bad food. 

6. Bowling green: A level piece of ground for bowling, 
a favorite game in England from the Middle Ages to the 
present time. 

No. 25. 

1. Motto: 

"A plundering race, still eager to invade, 
On spoil they live, and make of theft a trade." 

2. Slut: An untidy v/oman; a slattern. — Webster. 

3. Cassandra: A prophetess, from Cassandra, daughter 
of Priam, king of Troy, who received from the god Apollo 
the power of knowing futurity. 

No. 26. 

1. Motto: "Once more, ye woods, adieu." 

2. White witch: "According to popular belief, there 
were three classes of witches — white > black, and gray. 
The first helped, but could not hurt; the second the re- 
verse; and the third did both. White spirits caused stolen 
goods to be restored; they charmed away diseases, and did 
other beneficent acts; neither did a little harmless mischief 
lie wholly out of their way." — Sir Roger de Coverley, vrith 
notes by W. H. Wills. 

No. 27. 

1. Motto: "That man who does not see what the 
occasion demands, and talks too much or is boastful, or has 
not due regard for the company he is in, — that man 
may be called impertinent." 

2. Chamberlain: An upper servant. 

3. Mrs.: Mistress; a title applied in Addison's time 
to unmarried as well as to married women. 

4. Ephraim: A common title for a Quaker. See 
Psalm Ixxviii. 9. 

5. Half -pike: A short pike, consisting of a staff with 
an iron head. 

6. Equipage: Attendant, servant; generally used of a 
retinue or more than one. 

7. Invidious: Disagreeable, hateful; usually, causing or 
prompted by envy. 

8. Smartness: Acuteness. Compare the present Ameri- 
can colloquial use of "smart" in the sense of "acute." 



254 NOTES 

9. Fleer: Jeer. 

10. Hooped: Fastened, as with a hoop. 

11. Our reckonings, apartments, etc.: The journey 
from Worcestershire to London then occupied three days. 
The nights were spent at inns on the way. 

12. Disputes on the road: Disputes with the drivers of 
vehicles they met as to which should take the best of the 
road. "On the best lines of communication," says Wills, 
''ruts were so deep and obstructions so formidable that it 
was only in fine weather that the whole breadth of the 
road was available; for on each side was often a quagmire 
of mud. Seldom could two vehicles pass each other unless 
one of them stopped." 

No. 28. 

1. Motto: "I remember these things and that the 
conquered Thyrsis contended in vain." 

2. The old Roman fable: A Roman consul quoted this 
fable to the plebeians enraged against the patricians. See 
Livy's History of Rome, Book II, Chapter 32; also Coriola- 
nus. Act I, Scene 1. 

3. Carthaginian faith: Punica fides was used by the 
Romans to denote treachery; the Punic or Carthaginian 
faith they characterized as faithless. 

4. Account: Calculation. 

5. Artificers: Mechanics. 

6. Impertinently: Unduly. 

7. Assurance: Insurance. 

8. Custom: Duty or tariff. 

No. 29. 

1. Motto: 

"A hundred mouths, a hundred tongues, 
And throats of brass inspired with iron lungs." 

— Dry den. 

2. Ramage de la Ville : Warblings of the city. 

3. Crack: Crank. 

4. E-la: Originally the highest note in the scale. 

No. 30. 

1. Motto: "Most rare is now our old simplicity. — 
Dry den. 

2. Prince Eugene: During the War of the Spanish 
Succession, Prince Eugene commanded the army of Italy. 



NOTES 255 

He afterward commanded the imperial army in Germany 
and shared with the Duke of Marlborough the glory of his 
victories. He came to England in 1712 to urge the prose- 
cution of the war against France, and to use his efforts 
to restore Marlborough to the queen's favor. 

3. Scanderbeg: George Castriota (14047-1466). A cele- 
brated Albanian chief. He was called Scanderbeg (Iskander 
Bey) by the Turks, with whom he long continued at war. 

4. Dr. Barrow: A well-known divine of the time. 

5. Hogs'-puddings : A sort of large sausage. 

6. Smutting: Joking. 

7. Late act: The act against occasional uniformity. 

8. Procession: The Pope's head in effigy was carried 
in procession to show opposition to the Catholic religion. 

9. Baker's Chronicle of the Kings of England: The 
author was Sir Richard Baker (1568-1645). 

10. Squires's: a popular coffee-house. 

11. Supplement: A newspaper of the day. 

No. 31. 

1. Motto: 

" But womankind, that never knows a mean, 
Down to the dregs their sinking fortunes drain: 
Hourly they give, and spend, and waste, and wear, 
And think no pleasure can be bought too dear." 

— Dry den. 

2. Great climacteric: The ages of man obtained by 
multiplying 3, 5, 7, and 9 by 7 are called climacterics, of 
which the last, i.e., 63, is called the great or grand climacteric. 

3. Grand alliance: formed in 1701 between England, 
Holland, and Germany, to check the encroachments of 
the French king. 

4. Grotius, Puffendorf: Eminent jurists of the seven- 
teenth century. 

5. Civilian: One skilled in civil law. 

6. Socrates: Socrates, the Greek philosopher (470?-399), 
is one of the speakers in Plato's dialogue Alcibiades. 

No. 32. 

1. Motto: 

"With Ancus, and with Numa, kings of Rome, 
We must descend into the silent tomb." 

2. Widow Truby's water: "One of the innumerable 



256 NOTES 

^strong waters' drunk, it is said (perhaps libelously), 
chiefly by the fair sex as an exhilarant; the excuses being 
the coHc and 'the vapors.'" — Wills. 

3. Sickness: The plague. 

4. Sir Cloudesley Shovel: A distinguished British ad- 
miral, who was commander-in-chief in the reign of Queen 
Anne. Returning from Gibraltar, his ship was lost on the 
Scilly Isles, and all on board perished. His body was 
afterward found and interred in Westminster Abbey, 
where a monument was erected to his memory. 

5. Dr. Busby: For fifty-five years head-master of West- 
minster School. 

6. This is a popular error, originating from the position 
of the figure in the monument to Elizabeth, youngest 
daughter of Lord John Russell (a.d. 1684). 

7. The effigy of Henry V. 

No. 33. 

1. Motto: "Holds out his foolish beard for thee to 
pluck." 

2. Lucian (120?-200?): A Greek satirical author. 

3. ^Elian or iElianus (c. a.d. 220): A Roman rhetorician. 

4. Don Quevedo (1580-1645): A Spanish statesman and 
author. 

5. Saxon heptarchy: The seven Saxon kingdoms of 
England before the Norman conquest. 

6. Samuel Butler (1612-1680): An English satrical poet, « 
the author of Hudibras, a famous satire on the Puritans. y 

7. ^sculapius: The Greek and Roman god of medicine. 



No. 34. 
1. Motto: 



"Keep Nature's great original in view, 
And thence the living images pursue.' 



2. "The Distrest Mother." 

3. A comedy by Sir Robert Howard. 

4. By the poet Ambrose Philips, a friend of Addison 
The distressed mother was Andromache, wife of Hector of 
Troy. 

5. Mohocks: Dissolute young men, who amused them- 
selves by fighting and maiming harmless people in the 
streets. 



% 



NOTES 257 

6. Steenkirk: In Belgium, where the Enghsh, under 
William III, were defeated by the French in 1692. 

7. Smoke: Sneer at, ridicule — an obsolete usage. 

No. 35. 

1. Motto: "Made up of nought but inconsistencies." 

2. By A. Phillips, first published 1712. 

3. Author: Steele; see the Tatler No. 38. 

4. Eustace Budgell. 

5. Mrs. Oldfield (1683-1730): A famous English actress 
of the time. 

6. Andromache: The heroine of the play. Andromache 
was the wife of Hector of Troy in Homer's Iliad. 

7. Paul Lorrain: The warden of Newgate Prison at 
this time. See the Tatler, No. 63. 

No. 36. 

1. Motto: ''The savage lioness hunts the wolf, the wclf 
puruses the goat, the goat seeks the blossoming clover." 

2. Lay: Bet. 

3. Put: Clown. 

4. Jointure: An estate settled on a wife, 

5. Lyon's Inn: An inn belonging to the Inner Temple. 

6. The book I had considered last Saturday: The tenth 
book of Paradise Lost, the subject of No. 357 of the Spec- 
tator. 

7. Milton: John Milton, one of the greatest of English 
poets, author of Paradise Lost. The passage here is 
quoted incorrectly. Find and verify the quotation. 

No. 37. 

1. Motto: "A beauteous garden, but by vice maintained." 

2. Spring Garden : Or Vauxhall. A famous pleasure re- 
sort on the Thames River, now vanished. 

3. La Hogue: On the northwest of France, off which 
the English gained a splendid victory over the French 
fleet in 1692. 

4. Put: Rustic, clown. An obsolete word. 

5. Mask: One who wears a mask. 

No. 38. 
1. Motto: 

*"Tis not the place disgust or pleasure brings: 
From our own mind our satisfaction springs." 



258 NOTES 

2. TuUy, Marcus Tullius Cicero (b.c. 106-43): A Roman 
orator. 

3. Michaelmas: The feast of the archangel Michael; 
a church festival celebrated on the 29th of September, 
hence colloquially autumn. 

No. 39. 
1. Motto: 

"Mirror of ancient faith? 
Undaunted worth! Inviolable truth!" 

— Dryden. 
No. 40. 

1. Motto: "No one ever had a plan of life so well 
arranged but that circumstances, age, experience may 
bring new knowledge, new aims; what you think you 
know, you may not know; and that you thought most 
desirable, on trial you may reject." 

2. Beings: Abodes, places of residence. 

3. Into some being in the world: Getting established in 
life. 

4. Infant: A person who is under age. 

5. Apprenticeship: According to the English law at 
that time no person was allowed to practice an art or trade 
who had not served an apprenticeship of seven years. 

6. Journey work: Work of one who has learned his 
trade. 

7. Glorious events: Consult histories and name some 
of the events to which Steele refers. 

8. Colonel Camperfelt: Colonel Kempenfelt, lieutenant- 
governor of Jersey. It has been suggested that he was 
the model for Captain Sentry. 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

BY 

Cornelia Beare, Instructor in English, White Plains High 
School, White Plains, N. Y. 

No. 1. The Spectator's Account of Himself. 

Compare the Spectator's account of himself with the story 
of Addison's life. How much may be considered auto- 
biographical? What traits have the two in common? 
Describe the coffee-houses of the day, indicating their in- 
fluence on men, manners, and literature, and comparing 
them with modern clubs. Give some account of those here 
mentioned, instancing Dryden's connection with Will's 
coffee-house. Justify the choice of "The Spectator" as a 
pen name. 

In this, and in all succeeding papers, make notes of all 
obsolete or altered words and phrases, give their modern 
equivalents and show which is the more significant. In 
each paragraph note how transition is secured, indicate 
where it is placed, show whether it is perspective or retro- 
spective, indicate an amplifying or a propositional paragraph; 
show how summarizing sentences or clauses are indicated. 
Keep a list of both transitional and summarizing expressions, 
indicating whether they are Addison's or Steele's. 
No. 2. The Club. 

What is Sir Roger's most marked trait? Do his eccen- 
tricities add to or detract from this? Compare this de- 
scription with Addison's description of the Spectator. What 
differences and what similarity in the methods used? Com- 

259 



260 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

pare with Irving's description of Squire Bracebridge. Which 
of the other members are distinct personaUties? Show wherein 
the club affords an excellent field for the Spectator's favorite 
pastime, observation. Criticise Sir Andrew's views on com- 
merce and war, comparing with modern views, and with 
Tennyson's in the Princess, Canto V, 11. 409-413. Criticise 
Captain Sentry's views on the duty of pushing one's self for- 
ward. Compare Will Honeycomb with the others. Contrast 
all with Sir Roger, showing how all serve as foils for him. 

No. 3. Unwise Ambition. 

Explain what is meant by "parts." (Compare Locke's 
Essay on the Understanding, Sect. 2, "Parts.") Explain 
what is meant by "abuse of the understandings" Give, in 
your own words. Sir Roger's views as to why "only men of 
fine parts should be hanged." Criticise them. Criticise the 
statements, — "The affectation of being gay and in fashion 
has very near eaten up our good sense and our religion," — 
and "Nothing should be held laudable or becoming but what 
nature itself prompts us to think so." 
No. 4. Sir Roger at the Club, 

Compare the opening paragraph with your answer to the 
question. Wherein did the club offer an excellent field for 
the Spectator's favorite pastime, — observation? Compare 
the personality of the club members here, as shown by their 
comments, etc., with that given them by Steele in No. 2, indi- 
cating any differences, and showing if the unity of the char- 
acter has been kept. 

No. 5. A Lady's Library. 

In the description of Leonora's library, what touches of 
sarcasm? Is it unkind? true of women to-day? What 
of her choice of books? Show humor in Addison's comments 
in various ones in the list. Compare Leonora's life with 
that of the perverse widow. Explain why the Spectator 
"looks upon her with a mixture of admiration and pity." 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 261 

No. 6. Sir Roger at his Country House. 

What has been told previously of Sir Roger as landlord 
and as master? Does it agree with what Addison says of 
him here? In Macaulay's Addison read paragraphs 85-89. 
Illustrate as far as possible what is said there of Addison's 
humor, from this and the succeeding sketches. What dif- 
ference is there between the humor here and that of Steele 
in his description of the club members, in the interview 
with the widow, etc.? Show how the eccentricities spoken of 
by Steele in No. 2 are here developed by Addison. Criticise 
Sir Roger's choice of chaplain and his means of securing good 
sermons. 

No. 7. Sir Roger's Servants. 

Write a paragraph of 250 to 300 words, imitating as 
nearly as possible Addison's simplicity and directness of 
style, and making the paragraph complete on the theme, 
"Sir Roger as a Master." Criticise Sir Roger's way of 
rewarding faithful service. Show how the trait given by 
Steele as the central feature of his character persists through- 
out, as well as do his eccentricities. Compare this view 
by Steele with that in No. 6 by Addison. 

No. 8. Will Wimble. 

Show how the w^hole sketch shows the folly of the Eng- 
lish feeling that ''trade" is disgraceful. Is there anything 
malicious in it? If so, where? Show how Will Wimble 
harmonizes with Coverley Hall and its master. What 
makes the Spectator find him so interesting? 

No. 9. Sir Roger's Ancestors. 

Had you anticipated Sir Roger's pride in his ancestors? 
Why? Compare "the finest gentleman in the world" with 
Will Honeycomb. Do you find in Sir Roger any of the 
traits of his ancestors? If so, which? Compare him with 
Sir Humphrey. 



262 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

No. 10. Ghosts. 

Give the Spectator's explanation of how the majority of 
so-called ghosts come to exist. State briefly, and criticise 
his views as given in the last paragraph. 

No. 11. A Sunday in the Country. 

Criticise his views on the value of Sunday. Criticise the 
introduction and show how its close makes a good transition 
to the discussion. Give a brief account of the chaplain as he 
was before described. Show how what has been said before 
of the knight's character is evident here. Criticise the state- 
ment of the last paragraph, comparing it with our own 
times. 

No. 12. Sir Roger and the Widow. 

What has been said before of "the perverse widow"? 
Compare Sir Roger's own description of his youth with that 
given by Steele (No. 2). Is the widow as distinct a per- 
sonality as the other characters? What is gained by having 
Sir Roger present the widow and his case to us? Compare 
the humor in this with that in "Sunday at Coverley Hall"; 
showing as nearly as possible wherein the difference lies. Show 
how Sir Roger here is consistent with himself as first shown. 
Report the interview as the widow might have told it to a 
friend. 

No. 13. Economy. 

What is meant by "economy" as here used? Show how 
the account of Laertes indicates the same sort of false pride 
that produces men like Will Wimble. Compare Steele's 
views on "economy" and on "vanity, riot and prodigality" 
with his actions in real life. 

No. 14. Bodily Exercise. 

In all the sketches henceforth, state how each is intro- 
duced. Compare this introduction with others by Addison 
so far given. Criticise his views as to the physical and moral 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 263 

value of exercise. Outline the sketch, indicating in your 
outline all transitions. 

No. 15. Sir Roger Hunting. 

Criticise the introduction. What side of Sir Roger's 
character is here shown? Is there any inconsistency in this 
view of him, to justify the statement that Budgell has vio- 
lated the knight's character? If so, where? 

No. 16. On Witchcraft. 

Give Addison's views on ghosts and the supernatural as 
before stated. Compare with the first two paragraphs 
here. Compare the account of Moll White and her doings 
with the Salem witchcraft tales. How do you explain their 
similarity? What is Sir Roger's attitude on the question? 
Compare the Spectator's explanation of this case with that 
of the Coverley ghost. 

No. 17. Sir Roger in Love. 

Compare this account of the widow with the previous. 
Why does not Sir Roger speak out and find out whether 
"she designs to marry me or she does not"? Show how 
this talk of the widow and her confidante forms a fit intro- 
duction. What parallel might be drawTi between the widow 
and Kate Willow? 

No. 18. Town and Country Manners. 

Write a paragraph of 150 to 200 words, mainly of balanced 
sentences, contrasting country and city manners, and ex- 
plaining the difference. 

No. 19. Sir Roger's Poultry. 

Account for the pleasure the Spectator finds in the study 
of animals. Outline the sketch, indicating transitions. Ex- 
plain why instinct can be neither imitation nor reason; why 
he says it " rises infinitely above reason, yet falls infinitely 
short of it." 



264 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

No. 20. Instinct in Animals. 

What special feature of the subject is dwelt on here? 
Cite other instances of animals specially fitted for their 
means of life. How has his desire, as expressed at the close 
been fulfilled? ' 

No. 21. Sir Roger at the Assizes. 

Criticise the introduction, showing how its theme applies 
to the subject. Indicate humorous touches in the account 
of the dispute and the knight's decision. Compare this 
view of Sir Roger at court with that where he first saw the 
widow. What is the special value of the "odd accident," 
related at the close? 

No. 22. EuDOXUS and Leontine. 

How much of the introduction is true to-day? Why? 
Tell briefly the story, indicating the causes which led to the 
scheme, the conditions which made it a success, and show- 
ing the dangers which might have ensued. 

No. 23. Party Spirit. 

Compare this introduction with those by Addison. State 
briefly the evils of party spirit as here given. Add others. 
Are they greater or less to-day? Outline the sketch. 

No. 24. Party Spirit Continued. 

Show connection between this and No. 23. Compare 
Addison's scheme for clean politics with others before and 
since his time (Bacon's Atlantis, Moore's Utopia, Bellamy's 
Looking Backward). What is the point of his "form of 
association." What satire on English politics? Point of 
the account of the Ichneumon? What Tory principle? 
has Sir Roger previously shown? Why is he here presentee 
in his least attractive aspect? 

No. 25. Sir Roger and the Gypsies. 

Analyze the first paragraph, indicating topic sentence, 
means of development, transition words, relation of sentences, 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 265 

etc. Show wherein Sir Roger's attitude is as characteristic 
as in the case of Moll White. 



Write paragraphs of 100 to 150 words on these themes 
from the papers thus far studied : — 

1. Sir Roger a typical old English country gentleman. 

2. Sir Roger compared with Squire Bracebridge. 

3. The Coverley church. 

4. Will Wimble. 

5. Types of country life. 

6. Sir Roger's household. 



No. 26. The Spectator's Reputation in the Country. 

Show how the various speculations as to who and what 
the Spectator is, are typical of country life, both then and 
now. Explain his meaning in "get into the crowd in order 
to be alone." Show how Will Honeycomb's letter is charac- 
teristic of the writer. 

No. 27. In a Stage-coach. 

Compare the presentation of characters here with that in 
No. 2. Is it done by minute details or an impressionistic 
sketch? Show how each character is made individual. 
What comedy in the sketch? Compare with Sir Roger's 
visit to the widow. How is the Spectator true to his charac- 
ter? Compare this soldier with Captain Sentry. Criticise 
Friend Ephraim's views in the last paragraph. 

No. 28. Sir Andrew Freeport on Merchants. 

Is what he says in the introduction true elsewhere than in 
England? Defend your answer. Show how Will Wimble 
serves in a way to illustrate what he says of the conflict 
between trade and the gentry. Is Sir Roger's charge against 
merchants true? Are his objections to trade just? Defend 
your answer. Compare Sir Roger's and Sir Andrew's 



266 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

schemes for charity, showing with reason which you con- 
sider the better. Read what Macaulay says of Addison's 
observation of the condition of the peasantry on the con- 
tinent. Had Steele had any similar opportunity to lead 
him to these views of Sir Andrew's? 
No. 29. The Cries of London. 

Compare what is said of the effect of the cries of London 
with personal experience of the cries of some great city. 
Write a paragraph of about 250 words on "Street Cries." 
How many of the cries mentioned in Ralph Critchell's letters 
are familiar to you? Criticise the comments he makes on 
them, — his plan for regulating them. Specify the faults he 
finds in them. Traces of Addison's peculiar humor in the 
sketch. 
No. 30. A Walk with Sir Roger. 

Consult Macaulay's Essay, paragraph 45, for Addison's 
own relations with the Prince Eugene here mentioned. 
Compare Sir Roger's account of Christmas at the Hall with 
what Sir Andrew said of the knight's charity, No. 28. Show 
how, in his comments on the country people, the individuality 
of each is kept distinct. What evidences of Addison's 
humor in this presentation of Sir Roger? 

No. 31. Pin Money. 

Compare Mr. Fribble's predicament with that of the 
average husband of to-day. What impression is given of 
him? Of his wife? Indicate humorous touches. Show 
how the Spectator's decision to say nothing on either side 
is characteristic. Discuss present-day methods of settling 
the question. Compare the young Squire's treatment of 
his intended with Sir Roger's plan for the widow. Do you 
imagine the latter lady knew of the plan? Why? 
No. 32. Sir Roger in Westminster Abbey. 

Compare this introduction with that of No. 30; how do 
both differ from the other sketches? What have the two in 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 267 

common? In the entire sketch, which presents the knight 
at his best, indicate each touch that emphasizes his person- 
ahty. Indicate whether the humor lies in actions and 
situations or in the author's manner of presentation. Dis- 
tinguish exactly between wit, humor, and fun. 

No. 33. Sir Roger and Beards. 

Show whether or not the Sir Roger of this sketch is 
coincident with the one presented by Addison and Steele, 
and if not, why. Criticise the entire sketch as to its keeping 
with the general tone of the others, especially those which 
are not entirely on Sir Roger. 

No. 34. Sir Roger at the Play. 

Compare this view of Sir Roger with that at Westminster. 
Treat the entire sketch as you did No. 32. Consult Ma- 
caulay for an account of Addison's own dramatic work. 
Show especially how the knight's criticisms are characteristic 
of him. Sketch briefly Captain Sentry as shown here. 
Compare with account given of him in No. 2 and No. 28. 

No. 35. Epilogues. 

Explain purpose and nature of prologue and epilogue 
in Addison's time. In Midsummer Night's Dream, in 
the play acted by Bottom and his comrades, show how 
Shakespeare regarded them. Read those for some of his 
early plays. Give an account of Sir Roger's visit to the 
play. What seems to be the opinion here of the value of 
the epilogue? Traces of sarcasm? Of humor? Compare 
this comment on epilogue with the prologue in Midsummer 
Night's Dream. 

No. 36. Will Honeycomb's Courtship. 

Compare Budgell's treatment of Will Honeycomb with 
Steele's in No, 2. Compare this sketch for literary merit 
and consistency to types with Budgell's others, No. 15 and 
No. 33. 



268 EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 

No. 37. Sir Roger at Spring Garden. 

Treat this sketch as you did "Westminster" and "The 
Play." Compare his choice of the waterman with that of 
the cabman. Compare what was said of town and country 
manners, with this illustration of the two. 

No. 38. On Good-humor. 

What has been previously said about the relations be- 
tween servant and master, guest and host, parson and land- 
lord, at Coverley Hall? How does the Hall compare with 
other country-seats in this respect? Why is it especially 
advisable to be good humored in the country? Why is 
country life the most pleasant "only to those who know 
how to enjoy leisure and retirement"? Criticise the state- 
ment "the humor and disposition of the head of the house 
is what chiefly influences all the other parts of a family." 
"There are very few families in which there are not feuds 
and animosities." Discuss the value of the scheme to secure 
a pleasant stay in the country, by means of an infirmary 
for those whose tempers are sick. Outline the sketch. 

No. 39. The Death of Sir Roger. 

Show both the fitness and the value of letting the butler 
tell of Sir Roger's death. Show how his last days are en- 
tirely consistent with his character as before given. How 
is pathos secured? Compare Addison's pathos with his 
humor. What in this and all the sketches dealing with Sir 
Roger made people feel a personal friendship for him and 
a personal loss in his death? 

No. 40. A Letter from Captain Sentry. 

State all that has been said previously about Captain 
Sentry. Compare his letter with the butler's telling of Sir 
Roger's death, and with Will Honeycomb's telling of his 
retirement. Discuss his characterization of Sir Roger as 
" that honest, plain man." Discuss the truth of his estimate 

JC4 



EXAMINATION QUESTIONS 269 

of the relative values of the cold- and warm-hearted man. 
What " little absurdities " of Sir Roger had been spoken of. 
Criticise Captain Sentry's management of the estate; his 
plan for taxes and loans. Compare with Sir Andrew's 
plans. State why he thinks the soldier's profession the best; 
criticise his reasons. Show whether or not the whole letter 
is in keeping with what we have heard before of Captain 
Sentry. 

Write complete paragraphs on these topics, endeavoring 
to follow Addison's style as closely as you can; using his 
method of transitions, summarizing phrases, etc.: — 

1. Captain Sentry. 

2. Sir Andrew Freeport. 

3. Will Honeycomb. 

4. Sir Roger and Baker's Chronicle. 

5. The Perverse Widow. 



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